


Thank You

by Im_Still_So_Deep



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Epic, Explicit Language, F/M, Gen, Humor, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-13 13:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_Still_So_Deep/pseuds/Im_Still_So_Deep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been five years since Kid Buu has been defeated, and Bulma and Vegeta make the decision to have a second child. Everything seems to be going well for them. . .that is until a visitor from the past brings them shocking news that turns their world upside down. Rated T for future scenes of violence and sexual content. In progress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been five years since Kid Buu's defeat. What're the Z fighters up to now?

It was a warm sunny day outside of Capsule Corporation where the entire Z fighter gang had gathered for Trunks' thirteenth birthday party. It was a huge occasion put together by Bulma, and she wanted nothing more than to give her son the best birthday that he had ever had, inviting everyone to join in on the celebration. The birthday boy himself was sitting in the center of the room with Goten, chowing down on an assortment of foods such as chicken legs and corn on the cob, crumbs flying in every direction. Mrs. Briefs was handing out pieces of cake to everyone, smiling cheerfully and rambling on about how old her grandson was as she did so, while Dr. Briefs handed out cups of ice cream. Gohan and Videl, who had just returned from their honeymoon a few days ago, were sitting at a table with Piccolo, Yamcha, Hercule, Majin Buu, Krillin and Android 18, telling them all about their lush trip to a secluded desert island. Goku and Chi-Chi were sitting at the end of the table; Chi-Chi looking on in horror as Goku crammed four pieces of cake into his mouth at the same time, making her hesitate to take a bite of her own piece of cake. Vegeta, like always, was off in a corner by himself, eyeballing Goku's eating frenzy with disgust as he took a sip of his beer.

Bulma finished looking around the room and smiled to herself; everyone was still exactly the same as they had always been, and for that she couldn't be more thankful. It was so good to have everyone together again; they all hadn't been able to get together as much since the defeat of Kid Buu almost five years ago, so this day just made the gathering all the more special.

"Hey, Bulma! You did such a great job throwing this party, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves," Chi-Chi smiled warmly as she made her way over to her friend, no longer wanting to sit and watch her husband devour everything in sight.

She turned to her raven-haired friend and beamed. "Yeah, I'm so glad. I worked on planning this party for months, and I fought tooth and nail to bake this cake last night," she gestured with her fork to the plate of cake she was holding in her hand. She was the first to admit that she had never been blessed with the ability to be a great cook; she always left it up to her mother to decide what to make for the family meals. But the determined scientist wanted to give baking a cake for Trunks' milestone birthday a try, thinking that it couldn't be  _that_  hard since she was a genius after all. Boy, had she been wrong. She was up all night trying to figure out how to get it just right, and around two o'clock in the morning she had finally got it to be presentable looking, decorating it with green icing, which was Trunks' favorite color, and placed thirteen candles on top of it. She only hoped her newly-teenage son appreciated it.

Chi-Chi winked playfully at her friend. "Obviously if Goku and the other Saiyans are each eating about fifteen pieces each of it, it must be good. I really liked it, you should be proud of yourself. Why, it may even be better than something I would make!"

"Thanks, Chi-Chi," Bulma giggled, tucking a strand of her shoulder-length teal hair behind her ear. "But I'm not really sure that Trunks appreciates it; he's definitely been starting to act like a teenager these last couple of days. Apparently I'm uncool and so is everything I do."

The younger woman shook her head, taking a delicate sip of her beverage. "Don't let it stress you out. All teenagers are like that in the beginning; it's just a phase and will eventually wear off. I just can't believe my Goten will be a teenager next year. Time has flown by these last few years."

"Yeah, it has," Bulma responded quietly, munching on her last bite of cake solemnly, her mind clouded with memories of when Trunks was younger, how pleasant and happy he used to be. She did acknowledge that her son had always had a high-strung attitude just like his father, but he had never been as brash as he had been acting recently. "My Trunks isn't a baby anymore. . .I guess I'm gonna have to learn to get used to it."

"Say," Chi-Chi began in a low whisper, leaning in closer to Bulma so that only she could hear. "If I tell you something you promise to keep it just between us?"

Bulma nodded, her sapphire eyes wide and curious.

"Well," Chi-Chi picked back up, "me and Goku were talking the other night about possibly having another child."

"Holy hell, are you serious?!"

"Mhm! Don't get me wrong I love my two boys more than life itself, but to tell the truth I have always dreamed of having a little girl. And life has been so blissful since Goku was given another chance at living; I thought now would be the perfect time to add to our little family. Goku isn't too sure about it, though. He said that he would have to think it over more."

"Wow," Bulma mouthed, unsure of what to say as she processed all that her friend had just said.

Chi-Chi snuck a glance over at her son and her now daughter-in-law, her lips curving up as she saw Gohan's arm wrapped around Videl, pulling her small frame closer to him. "The good thing is, no matter what, if Goku decides he doesn't want to try for another kid, I know that Gohan and Videl will surely give me grandchildren very soon, and that's even better than me having another kid!"

Bulma looked over at the couple fondly, noticing how young and in love they were, which in her eyes was the most precious thing in the whole world. "I'm sure those two love birds won't waste any time before they decide to start making babies. That must be exciting for you, though, to know that you could be a grandmother really soon. It will definitely be a long before I ever become one."

A sudden twinkle appeared in Chi-Chi's eyes, a sly grin appearing on her face. "Hey, Bulma, if you don't mind me asking. . .have you and Vegeta talked about wanting another child?"

Her face became frantic, as if some big secret had been let out. Of course she wanted another child; that was something she had always desired. In fact, it had actually been on her mind a lot lately, since she had greatly been missing the feeling of having a baby around the house. But she hadn't said a word to her husband about it. He had never brought the subject up, and she figured that there was no way he would want one. Trunks' birth had been quite rocky for them after all.

"I admit I would really like another child. . .I have also always wanted a little girl to dress up and spoil. However, I don't think Vegeta would be down for it. He didn't even want Trunks at first and almost left me because of it. I don't know how he would react to the thought of me wanting another one."

Chi-Chi let out a sympathetic cluck and put a hand on Bulma's shoulder. "Now come on, you don't know that for sure! Vegeta has changed a LOT these last few years. Who knows, maybe he wants one, too. He could just be unsure of how to approach you about it. You really need to talk to him about this."

"I don't know, Chi-Chi. . .I thi-"

"MOM! Can I open my presents now?!"

Bulma halted what she was about to say, turning around to see her son, who was now nearly as tall as her, hopping from one foot to the other with icing smeared all over his face. For a boy that wanted to be treated more like an adult he sure wasn't acting like it.

"First off, did you like the cake I baked you?"

Trunks took the back of his hand and wiped off the icing that covered practically his entire face. "Eh, it was okay. Definitely not the best I've ever had, probably would have liked it more if grandma made it."

Bulma looked over at Chi-Chi, who was taken aback by Trunks' bitter response. "See what I mean about the attitude?" And once her friend nodded quickly she turned back to her son, letting out a deep sigh. "Well then, I guess you can go ahead and open up your presents since that's your main concern. Just be sure to thank everyone for what they gave you."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Trunks snipped, tossing his hand out in front of him. "Goten! Get your hiney over here and help me open my presents!"

"Okay!" The younger half-Saiyan said cheerfully, stuffing his face with one last piece of cake before running over to his friend.

The two boys made their way over to the stack of presents, their eyes widening in glee as they did so. "I can't believe all this is for me! Even though I should have gotten more stuff than this," Trunks quipped before opening up one present, not even bothering to read the card attached to it, flinging it down onto the floor next to his feet.

"Socks?! Who the heck would give an awesome person like me socks for my thirteenth birthday?!"

"Uhhh. . .my mom. . ." Goten said bashfully, his dark eyes staring at the discarded card on the floor.

"Really, Goten? You're supposed to be my best friend, and yet you let your mom buy me socks?! You've lost some cool points," Trunks sneered, throwing the socks over his shoulder.

Just as he was about to reach for another present he was sure he would deem unworthy, he felt a tap on his shoulder. The young teenager turned around to see Master Roshi smiling wide with flushed cheeks, obviously drunk from the sake he had in one hand, while the other hand was placed behind his back, as though he was hiding something.

"Trunks," the old turtle hermit started with a chuckle, "I just wanted to stop by and give you the greatest gift you'll ever receive. This present is in honor of you growing from a boy to a man."

"Alright," Trunks snorted skeptically, hiking up one of his eyebrows. His azure eyes then widened at the gift that Master Roshi pulled out from behind his back.

"One of your magazines!"

Master Roshi smiled in delight, pulling his sunglasses down his nose so that he could take one last look at the scantily clad girl on the cover. "I knew you would appreciate it. Now you take good care of that, my boy. I hope it brings you as much pleasure as it brought me."

"Thanks old man, I'll be sure to, uh, 'treasure' it," Trunks grinned impishly, clutching the magazine closely.

Goten waited until Master Roshi went over towards Bulma and his mother to now aggravate them before moving closer to Trunks to further investigate his new present. His innocent eyes widened as Trunks flipped through the magazine. "Eww! It's a bunch of nasty naked girls! Who would want to look at that?"

"The fact that you just said that shows what a child you are."

"Hey! That's not very ni-"

He trailed off as Vegeta approached them, his arms crossed in his usual stance.

Trunks panicked as he looked up at his father, fumbling with the magazine in his hand. No matter how cocky he could be towards his mother, he wouldn't dare cross his father. He wouldn't hesitate to kick his ass if he ever talked back to him.

"Son, what did that lecherous old man just give to you?" the Saiyan Prince pried, eyeing the item his son was attempting to hide behind his back.

"Nothing, Dad. It was just a dumb little present. Nothing major."

"You think I buy that?" Faster than the speed of light, Vegeta reached behind his son and grabbed the magazine, crumpling it in the process.

"Dad, please don't tell Mom! She'll take it away!" Trunks pleaded, grabbing Vegeta's shirt sleeve.

Vegeta stared down at the magazine with a blank expression, both of the boys holding their breath in anticipation of what he would say. After deliberation he threw it down in front of Trunks, turning away from his son. "If you want to keep that then you must face the consequences of it if your mother ever finds out about it."

"Okay. . ." Trunks mumbled under his breath, hiding it beneath the stack of presents so Bulma could not see it.

The Saiyan Prince was making his way back over to the corner where he had been standing previously until a taller form stopped him in his path.

"Kakarot. What the hell do you want?"

Goku looked down at Vegeta with his usual friendly smile, pausing to take a sip of his drink. "I haven't really talked to you in a while so I just wanted to see how you've been doing."

Vegeta shrugged, lingering his gaze to the other side of the room. "I've been fine I guess. As fine as I could possibly be living on this measly planet."

Goku tilted his head slightly. "How have you and Bulma been doing?"

"Things are. . .well. Why is it any business to you?" Vegeta spat, scowling faintly.

"I was just wondering. I know that Chi-Chi had been asking me if I was ready to have another child, and I didn't know if maybe Bulma had been doing the same to you," Goku shrugged simply, his eyes wandering over to where their wives were standing across the room.

"Even if such a thing had been brought up by my mate why would I tell you about it?"

"Well, we are friends now, right?"

Vegeta's eyes widened, his muscles tensing slightly. Friend may be a bit of a . . .strong word, but he no longer hated his fellow full-blooded Saiyan, though he admitted he still dreamed of the day he would beat him in battle.

". . . To answer your question, Bulma has said no such thing about such a matter. And I can't imagine she ever would."

"Why you say that?"

"I. . .just don't think that that's something that she wants."

"Is it something YOU want?" Goku quizzed, his lips twitching into a smile.

Vegeta let out a gasp, taken aback by his question. To be honest, he had never really given the subject much thought. He knew he wasn't the best father around, despite attempting to be a much better one since the fight with Kid Buu. The possibility of having another child made him think that maybe he could do better the second time around, but he wasn't sure at all how Bulma felt about it.

"Enough of these pointless questions, Kakarot! Leave me be!" Vegeta snapped, growling angrily with clenched teeth.

Goku smiled and shook his head before turning away. "Okay, okay. I won't bother you about it anymore. But maybe you should think about it, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Vegeta grumbled under his breath as his eyes settled on his wife, who was monitoring Trunks opening his presents, her face troubled as their son seemed displeased with everything he had been given.

"Would she want another child?" he mused to himself. Now that Kakarot had brought it up it was all he could think about.

_Damn him._

One thing was for sure: if she wanted another child she would have to bring it up herself; he would not go to her and see what she would say. That could complicate things, which was the last thing he wanted since their bond had only strengthened the past few years.

Everything was just right with them and nothing would change that.

He would make sure of it.

* * *

A few hours later after the party was over Bulma stood outside of Trunks' room, waiting for him to finish up in the bathroom down the hall so that she could give him his present that she had got him. She had decided to give it to him in private, thinking that it was a very thoughtful and special gift she had selected, and she couldn't wait to see what his reaction would be. For his past birthdays she had always gotten him something of the latest technology that she knew he would love, but this year she wanted to keep it more modest, hoping that this gift would mean more to him than anything else he had ever received from her. She looked down at the wrapped box in her hand and sighed. On second thought, if he viewed her present like he did the rest of them, then he probably wouldn't be too thrilled with it.

"No, he will have to love it," she mentally assured herself. After all, this one had sentimental meaning; it wasn't just an item of clothing or something basic like everything else he had received earlier. She had thought long and hard about what to get him, and what she finally came up with she deemed perfect for his milestone birthday.

The sound of the bathroom door opening startled her out of her thoughts, and she looked over to see her son rubbing his eyes gingerly as he approached her.

"Please tell me that's a present for me!" he grinned wickedly, rushing up to her and greedily sticking his hands out to grab it.

Bulma jerked the present backwards out of Trunks' hands, an unyielding look appearing on her face. "Now, Trunks, before you open this I want you to know I wanted this to be a special gift for you, something that you would always remember and cherish the rest of your life. So I really hope you appreciate it."

"Aww, Mom, I bet it's the new Storm City video game that just came out! I knew I could count on you for nothing but the best just like with all my other birthday presents from you!" Trunks exclaimed, his eyes lighting up as Bulma placed the present back in his grasp.

"Well, this year I wanted to give you something more meaningful so hopefully I won't disappoint you," she said quietly, biting down on her thumb as Trunks ripped of the wrapping paper in a flash, not even bothering to read the tiny card she had attached to it.

His look of happiness was wiped off his face as he finally discovered what was inside the box, his eyes full of puzzlement, trying his best to decipher why he was given such a thing. He pulled out a black picture frame that had a picture of a much younger Bulma holding a chubby infant Trunks wrapped in a blue blanket on the day he was born, his small eyes closed as he appeared to be in a deep sleep. He studied the picture for a minute, an expressionless look on his face. He honestly didn't even remember being that young or tiny, and frankly, he didn't want to. All he wanted to do was focus on being thirteen; the last thing he wanted to do was take a trip down memory lane.

"Out of all the things on this planet, especially considering how rich our family is, you decide to give me a stupid picture of me as fat baby?! I expected a lot more from you, Mom."

"I. . ." Bulma trailed off, unsure of what to even say. She had really thought that somehow Trunks could find the thoughtfulness in her gift, that even though it didn't cost oodles of money it was still much more valuable than anything with a price tag. Boy, had she been wrong.

Trunks looked down at the picture in disgust, his nostrils flaring slightly as he tightened his grip on it. "I don't even know what to say to you. I mean it's a freakin' picture. . .I would have been more happy with twenty zeni than this bullsh-"

"Now you look here, young man," Bulma growled, regaining her voice as she placed her hands on her hips, "I will not have you stand here and talk to me like I'm a dog. I am your mother; I'm the reason you were brought into this world in the first place, and I sure as hell did not go through sixteen hours of labor for your ungrateful butt to stand here and act like such a selfish brat. I know every year you get something ridiculously expensive from me, but for once I wanted to give you something from the heart, something that would show how much I love you. The day you were born was the happiest day of my entire life. . .you were my precious little baby, and I wanted you to always have that picture with you. "

"Oh my God, I'm NOT your baby anymore; you need to get over it. The only way I'll ever be a kid again is if you can build a time machine, like that could ever happen," Trunks retorted, folding his arms and glaring straight at Bulma, who mirrored his stance.

"Both of you need to pipe down!"

They looked to see Vegeta coming up the stairs, his eyes focused on both of them in confusion as to what all the fuss was about.

"Dad, you actually let Mom give me such a stupid present?" Trunks quizzed, waving the picture frame in front of his father's face.

Vegeta glanced over at Bulma after scrutinizing the picture for a moment, noticing the hurt expression on her beautiful face, her sapphire eyes beginning to water. He looked back at Trunks and narrowed his eyes. "I didn't even know she had you a present, but you have no right to talk to her in such a manner."

Trunks shook his head and stormed past Bulma, not wanting to deal with the situation anymore. Before he entered his room he gave his mother one last dark look, ignoring the glare that Vegeta was directing at him. "This should have been the best birthday of my life, but instead it was the worst. And here," he said venomously, his eyes hollow as he lifted his hand that was clutching the picture up into the air, "I'll show you what I think of this."

Bulma watched in shock as Trunks smashed the picture down to the ground, causing the glass to shatter into a hundred pieces, the sound of it echoing throughout the hallway. Her blurry eyes shifted over to Vegeta, who was staring at their son with the same stunned look on his face, completely outraged by Trunks' actions just then. The teenager didn't even bother to give them a second glance before slamming his bedroom door as hard as he could, cracking the side of the wall from the force of it. She felt her eyes begin to sting as she struggled with all her might to suppress her tears, not wanting to break down over this. She knew Trunks was right; he wasn't a baby anymore, nor would he ever be again. The fear that his attitude would only get worse from here on out struck her, seizing her whole being. The worst part was that this was something she had no control over; it was completely out of her hands.

_Dammit. . .if only he actually still was a baby, he couldn't talk or argue back like this. . ._

Thinking about that brought her back to the conversation she had had with Chi-Chi earlier that evening, about wanting a second baby. Now more than ever she missed the innocent and wonder of having an infant around the house, of how precious they were, fascinated over the smallest things such as a butterfly floating past them or amazed at how the clouds moved slowly in the sky. It was a time in Trunks' life she felt like she took for granted, thinking it would last forever and not really soaking up all the memories she could. She longed for nothing more than a second chance to be a mother again, to once again experience how it felt to bring a new life into the world.

Looking down at the picture covered in broken glass, she felt the tears she had tried to hide slide down her cheeks, her body trembling slightly. She slowly bent down and began to collect the shards of glass, gathering them up along with the broken picture frame. She felt Vegeta's eyes on her, but she didn't say anything. She was afraid that one look from those dark fathomless eyes of his would cause her to completely spill her guts about what was on her mind, and she knew that right now was not the appropriate time to be discussing having a second child. Come to think of it, she didn't know when the right time would be, but she didn't want to dwell on it. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and pretend this night was just a bad dream.

"Woman?"

Bulma's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. She raised her head up to look at him, quickly wiping away her tear-stained face with the back of her hand. Deciding to remain silent for the moment, she lifted herself back up with her knees and walked downstairs towards the kitchen to throw the glass and broken picture frame away in the trashcan. She heard the sound of Vegeta's footsteps follow her down the stairs, but she didn't dare look back at him.

She walked over to the trashcan and painfully tossed what she had considered to be a special gift down into the pits of the metal object, watching it land to the bottom with a loud thud. More tears flooded down her already moistened face, hurt seeping into every pore of her body. She never would have imagined in a million years Trunks could treat her in such a way; it was just all too much to handle at the moment.

The feeling of a warm hand on her shoulder froze her in place, a jolt of electricity zipping through her body at the simple contact.

"Woman. . .Bulma, you shouldn't let that ingrate get you this upset," Vegeta spoke again, his voice soft yet stern at the same time. He adjusted his grip on her as she turned around to face him, their eyes meeting as his hands moved down to rest on her hips. Since the fight with Kid Buu, he had done his very best to be more affectionate and caring towards his family, no longer wanting to take them for granted as he did in the years past. The fight with Buu had shown him what really mattered in life, and he never again wanted to waste a moment with his loved ones. He knew he would never be as soft or outwardly happy as Kakarot was; that was something that just would not happen, nor did he want it to. But he did do his best not to argue or bicker as much with Bulma and try to offer some form of comfort in moments like this when he could tell she was visibly upset. She honestly was the most exquisite thing in the world to him, and he never again wanted her to feel like he didn't value or care about her; he just showed it in his own gruffly tender way.

"I-I know. I just didn't expect him to act like that," Bulma answered hoarsely, pressing herself against his chest and nuzzling her face into his shirt. Vegeta used to would have never allowed such an act in the past; he usually would have pushed her away or bluntly tell her to get over it. But he was so much more open now, so much more thoughtful. It made her immensely happy at how much their relationship had evolved these last few years.

He lifted one of his hands up and stroked her soft shoulder-length turquoise hair, letting his fingers glide through the smooth texture. "I will say I've noticed a change in his attitude as of late, but it's no reason for you to get this distraught. If he wants to act like more of a brat than usual, let him. He'll see soon enough that won't get him anywhere."

"I guess you're right," she exhaled, wrapping her arms around his trim waist, pulling him closer to her so that she could soak up his warmth. She really didn't want to think any more about everything that had happened that evening; all the stress and worrying about it would cause wrinkles, and considering that she wasn't getting any younger, that was the last thing she needed.

"You wouldn't believe what Kakarot told me earlier," Vegeta said with mild agitation in his voice after a few minutes of silence, trying to change the subject and get her mind off of it.

"I saw you talking to him at the party. But from the sound of your voice what he said doesn't sound too good," she giggled, looking up at him with a small grin, noting mentally that her tears had finally ceased.

"He said that him and his mate were thinking about having another child, as if the brain-dead fool really needs to reproduce a third time."

"Oh," she paused, a little unsure of what to say, seeing as how the topic of having another baby had been all she thought about that night, "Chi-Chi said the same thing to me, that she was hoping for a little girl this time. But Gohan and Videl will probably start popping out babies anytime now, so I don't think she should stress too much over it."

"Those two also shouldn't pass along their genes, seeing as how weak of fighters they both are. Their offspring would only be an embarrassment of a warrior," Vegeta shook his head in disgust, earning a light punch from Bulma.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice to say. I don't know if those two would necessarily have the strongest kid of the bunch, but I bet their baby would be a little cutie just like them. They're just blissfully young and in love; they don't know how good they have it," she sighed, slightly envying the two twenty-somethings for how easy their lives seemed at the moment.

'Hmph' was Vegeta's only response, resting his chin on top of her head in a gesture of comfort. He thought back to what Kakarot had said to him earlier, about if he himself wanted a second child. It had plagued his mind since the fool had brought it up, becoming all he could think about. He had thought it over, but never really came to a clear conclusion. He just wasn't certain about it at all, nor was he sure of Bulma's opinion about the whole thing, especially now that it seemed Trunks was already too much to handle.

He looked down at her, noticing how her eyes were desperately trying to fight sleep, her lids flickering open and closed. He cupped her chin with his index finger, her expression brightening as he did so. He leaned down and kissed her softly, his hands caressing her back delicately, releasing a sigh of pleasure from her. Even the simplest of kisses from him could instantly snap her out of a bad mood, as though she was falling into some deep pleasurable abyss.

"I think it's time to go to bed," he whispered, moving his lips to place a chaste kiss on her forehead.

She nodded in response, letting out a jaw-cracking yawn. She reached for his hand and followed him up to their bedroom, ready to give into sleep. She shut the door behind them and crawled into her side of the bed, happily letting her body sink down into the mattress. Vegeta stripped down to his boxers and plopped down next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist as she curled into his chest, feeling completely at ease in his strong embrace.

Everything between them was just perfect now, and she wouldn't change a thing about it, seeing as how many years it took them to get to this stage of their relationship. She knew the idea of having a second baby would probably be all she thought about the next few days, but she decided to wait a while before saying anything to Vegeta. She wanted to plan out how she would tell him, seeing as how she wasn't sure of what his reaction would be; she knew it was best to be cautious approaching him about it. She had always been a big believer in everything happening for a reason, and she knew that if she was meant to have another child it would happen on its own; stressing about it would do no good. She left her thoughts at that, placing a kiss on the crook of Vegeta's neck before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Only time would tell what was going to happen for her and her family.


	2. I Want a Baby!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Bulma finally confront Vegeta about her desire to have a second child? Find out!

"YOU BETTER LEARN SOME MANNERS, YOUNG MAN!"

"LEARN TO COOK AND MAYBE I WILL!"

"Dammit all," Vegeta seethed as he was rudely awakened by the sound of his wife and son arguing, which at this point had almost become a routine in the mornings. Things hadn't changed much since Trunks' birthday four months ago. Trunks was just as arrogant as ever with his new-found teenage attitude, which didn't sit well with Bulma, making it almost impossible for the two of them to get along. And that led to Vegeta of all people being the middleman and breaking up their bickering, though he usually sided with Bulma as he was none too pleased with his son's brashness. The boy was getting too out of hand, and he could tell it was draining Bulma, though she never really verbalized it to him. But tonight Trunks was spending the night at Kakarot's house, which would give him and Bulma a break from parenting, and he hoped it would be a relaxing evening for the both of them, seeing as how they recently hadn't had much 'alone time'.

The Saiyan Prince got to his feet and stretched out his limbs, still a little sore from his training session in the gravity room yesterday, where he had pushed himself to train all the way up to 800 times gravity. The encounter with Bills had taken place a couple of months after Trunks' birthday, and the whole ordeal had pushed Vegeta to increase his training, not wanting to be caught off-guard again in times of peace. But unlike in the old days with his training, he now was not obsessed with being the strongest or most revered. He realized now there were much more important things to life than pushing himself to the edge day in and day out just to try to show up Kakarot. Though he didn't want to get too complacent in peaceful times with his training, because like Bills had proved, the unexpected could still happen and he wanted to be prepared if another enemy ever showed up on Earth again.

The continuing sound of arguing irritated Vegeta's sensitive ears, snarling as he made his way downstairs where he found Bulma and Trunks in the kitchen. Trunks was sitting at the table, glaring down at a stack of pancakes in front of him, while Bulma loomed over him, clutching a cup of coffee so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

"What the hell is with all this shouting?" Vegeta snapped, leaning back against the counter with crossed arms.

"Since Grandma and Grandpa are out of town Mom is in charge of making breakfast and she made. . .this," Trunks gestured with his chin down at the plate of pancakes, making a gagging sound as he swallowed a piece and chugged down his orange juice.

Bulma rolled her eyes, peering over her coffee cup at him as she took a delicate sip. "They aren't  _that_  bad. I guess if you don't eat them you'll just have to starve the whole day."

"I'm not gonna starve if I'm going over to Goten's house; Chi-Chi always has enough food to feed an army," Trunks retorted, wiping leftover juice off his upper lip with his sleeve.

"Fine, whatever," Bulma barked, snatching up the plate and walking over towards her husband with it. "I guess you can eat this then, Vegeta, so it doesn't go to waste."

Vegeta stared down at the plate skeptically, knowing very well that his son was probably not exaggerating about the taste. Bulma truly wasn't the best of cooks, though recently she had been trying to be more hands-on in the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of Trunks shaking his head and waving his arms frantically, trying to lure his father away from the impending doom of Bulma's half-assed attempt at breakfast. The prince ignored his son's warnings and sat down at the table with the plate, feeling Bulma's eyes burning a hole into his back as she waited on his critique of her cooking. He then took his fork and cut off a small piece, bracing himself.

"Wellllllllll? Are they as bad as Trunks said?" Bulma interrogated as Vegeta began to chew.

If Bulma would have handed him these pancakes to eat ten, maybe even five years ago, Vegeta would have had no problem telling her they tasted, well, like shit. But since the fight with Buu, he had really tried holding his tongue with certain things, and he knew he needed to be nicer with certain things, especially her cooking skills, or lack thereof.

"They're. . .edible," Vegeta said after swallowing, barely resisting the urge to gulp down juice as Trunks had to make it easier to bear.

"Ha, you see, Trunks, in your father's book that's a compliment. . .sort of," Bulma smiled triumphantly, taking the last sip of her coffee and placing it down on the counter.

Trunks looked at his father in disbelief, amazed at the fact he was actually stomaching the burnt taste. He chucked it down to the fact that his father must've wanted to score some good points with his mother, seeing as how they would have the house to themselves that night. Such a thought made Trunks shutter in disgust. That was a mental image he didn't need first thing in the morning. "Well, I'm going upstairs to pack for my sleepover. Enjoy your breakfast, Dad," he sneered as he got up from the table.

Vegeta glared at his son as he darted past him upstairs and shoveled the last few bites of pancake into his mouth, secretly glad to be finished with them. Bulma came over and kissed his cheek quickly before grabbing ahold of the empty plate in front of him. She knew he probably didn't really care too much for the breakfast she had attempted to make, but it was still a big deal in her book that he had ate the pancakes without any complaint. He really was trying to be, in his own way, sweeter towards her and she appreciated it more than he would ever know. Vegeta watched as she walked over towards the sink and began to wash the dish, noticing the sudden tired expression on her beautiful face. She had seemed rather stressed lately, and knew it was mostly due to Trunks acting like more of a brat than usual, but. . .something else was bothering her, something that seemed to be much deeper, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Bulma asked with a curious grin, meeting his gaze.

Vegeta pushed himself up from the table and made his way over to her, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her trim waist, pressing her back completely up against his chest. "Woman, I can tell that something has been bothering you lately," he muttered as he rested his chin on top of her soft turquoise hair.

Bulma flinched slightly and scrubbed the dish harder. "No. . .nothing's bothering me. I've just been a little stressed with all that's been going on with Trunks and all my deadlines in the lab piling up. That's it."

Vegeta reached down and grabbed her hand that was about to scrub a hole into the dish, making her freeze in place. "I know you better than that, woman. Something else is on your mind," he whispered gruffly into her ear, sending chills down her spine.

She set the plate down in the sink, washing her hands off on a nearby dishrag before turning herself around in his arms. She smiled a small smile as she stared into his dark fathomless eyes, reaching up and softly stroking his cheek. "I appreciate your concern, but I promise you I'm fine. And anyway," she sighed happily as she rested her forehead against his, "even if something was bothering me I would probably forget about it tonight, since we have the house to ourselves."

Vegeta accepted a hot kiss from her, smirking as she bit down on his bottom lip. They allowed themselves a few moments of getting lost in their passion for one another, giving each other a sneak preview of what was to come later in the evening. Bulma finally pulled back and grinned up at her Saiyan Prince. "I'll be waiting up for you tonight, so don't take too long with your training," she whispered seductively, letting her finger trace the chiseled muscles of his chest, enticing him more than she knew.

Bulma gave him one last naughty look and went upstairs to get ready to drop Trunks off, leaving Vegeta alone in the kitchen with his thoughts. Despite her denial he knew something was up with her. She was good at hiding her emotions in front of him, not wanting to pester him with her problems. But he saw through her façade, and if something was truly bothering her he wanted to know, so that he could do what he could to help her deal with it. He didn't like seeing her distressed, and while he wasn't the most sensitive person in the world, he would listen to her if she would open up to him.

He cracked his knuckles as he made his way towards the gravity room to get started with his training, not wanting to ponder on the situation any longer. If she had something she wanted to talk about then she would have to come to him; he would not force it out of her. Either way, something inside him made him feel that tonight would be one to remember, though he wasn't exactly sure why. But then again, there nights alone were never dull.

_I guess I'll just have to wait and see. . ._

* * *

A few hours later, Trunks ran up to the Son house and rang the doorbell a dozen times, earning a glare from Bulma who came up behind him as she put up her capsule containing her vehicle. Chi-Chi answered the door a few seconds later, a merry smile on her face. Before she could get a greeting out Goten popped up from behind her, waving frantically at his fellow demi-Saiyan.

"Hey, Trunks I'm glad you're finally here! I was just about to go spar with my Dad and brother!"

"Alright! Let's go kick some a-"

"Trunks!" Bulma yelped, nudging her son in the shoulder. "What have I told you about watching your language?!"

"Like you're one to talk, Mom," he snipped with a casual wave of his hand.

"He does have a point there, Bulma," Chi-Chi agreed with a sly smile as she ushered them in the house, closing the door behind her.

They made their way into the living room, where they were greeted by Gohan and Videl who were sitting together on the couch. Bulma grinned at the young couple, noticing how Gohan's hand was resting on Videl's stomach. At Bulma's birthday party where the battle with Bills had taken place, everyone had learned of Videl's pregnancy, and now three months later her petite figure was becoming overshadowed by her growing belly.

"Videl, do you need me to get you anything before we leave?" Gohan asked sweetly, caressing her cheek. He had really been taking Videl's pregnancy seriously, reading numerous parenting books every night and hesitant to ever leave her side. He wanted to make sure he was one-hundred percent ready for the arrival of his first child.

Videl rolled her eyes, though she smiled fondly at her husband. "Gohan, I'm fine, really. You guys go outside and have fun."

Trunks and Goten both made gagging sounds of disgust as the young couple shared a kiss, earning glowers from their mothers. Goku then entered the room with a mouth full of food, his cheeks packed to their maximum capacity. He attempted to hide a roll behind his back before Chi-Chi noticed, but his wife was too quick for him.

"Goku! Those rolls are for dinner!" she scolded him with a slap on the wrist.

Goku swallowed and smiled sheepishly at his wife. "I'm sorry, Chi-Chi! I just had to eat a little something before we take off."

"You had four helpings at breakfast!"

"That wasn't enough, though. . ."

Bulma chuckled at the actions of her oldest friend and sat down on the couch next to Videl. "Oh, Goku you never change."

"Hey, Bulma did Vegeta come with you guys?" Goku asked, looking around the room for his fellow full-blooded Saiyan.

Bulma shook her head, staring down at her perfectly-manicured nails. "No, he's off training by himself. He's really been pushing himself hard lately."

Goku smiled in response. "Well, tell him I'd like to spar with him sometime soon. I wanna see how much stronger he's gotten."

"I'll be sure to tell him," Bulma smiled back, knowing that Vegeta and Goku were much friendlier towards each other nowadays, though Vegeta probably wouldn't admit it.

"Enough chitchat," Trunks broke in, narrowing his eyes at his father's former rival. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Yeah, let's go!" Goten nodded in agreement, pumping a fist into the air.

"Okay, come on then, guys," Goku said cheerfully, walking towards the door with the boys.

"Are you SURE you're gonna be okay?" Gohan quizzed again, clasping one of Videl's small hands.

"Yes, yes," Videl assured planting a kiss on his cheek. "You worry too much!"

Gohan got to his feet and sighed. "I can't help it I just want to make sure your pregnancy goes as smoothly as possible."

"Your brother is whipped," Trunks muttered under his breath to Goten.

"I didn't know Videl owned a whip. . ." Goten said innocently as he looked over at his brother and sister-in-law.

"Damn, Goten you're stupid," Trunks groaned as he slapped a hand to his forehead.

"We'll be back in time for dinner," Goku called over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him and the three half-Saiyans.

Chi-Chi sat down in the chair opposite from the couch Bulma and Videl were sitting on, smoothing out her dress as it wrinkled up. "I'll tell you what, I'm forever grateful for having Goku back but keeping up with him and Goten is a real hassle."

"At least you don't have to deal with Gohan as well anymore. He's become an even bigger worry wart since I got pregnant. Heck, he's afraid to even breathe around me out of fear I may catch some disease he doesn't know he has," Videl sighed, patting her belly.

Bulma giggled. "I think the way he acts is kind of cute. He's really determined to protect you from anything. I mean my gosh, when I was pregnant Vegeta didn't give two shits about me. I had to take care of myself the whole nine months. It was not a pleasant experience."

Chi-Chi suddenly had a twinkle in her eye. "Say, Bulma, while we're on the subject, have you thought anymore about that 'talk' we had a while back?"

Bulma's sapphire eyes widened, knowing exactly what her best friend was talking about. It had been on her mind every day since they had first spoke about it. But she hadn't said a word about it to Vegeta; she just couldn't find the right time to tell him. That had been what was weighing on her, and after their conversation in the kitchen this morning, it appeared Vegeta was catching on to her growing stress over the whole situation. She knew she had to tell him soon, or else she would go crazy.

Videl raised an eyebrow as she glanced back and forth between the two older women. "Wait, what are you two talking about?"

"It's nothing," Bulma blushed.

"Oh, don't be silly! Videl, Bulma has been thinking about having another baby!" Chi-Chi beamed with clasped hands, ignoring Bulma's scowl.

"Wow. . .that's great!" Videl grinned, squeezing Bulma's arm. "Does Vegeta want one, too?"

Bulma let out a heavy sigh, burying her face in her hands. "That's the problem. I haven't said a word about it to him."

"Bulma, we had this discussion four months ago! I thought for sure you would have said something to him by now!" Chi-Chi harped, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"I just don't know how to approach him about it," Bulma griped, leaning back against the couch and focusing her attention on the ceiling. "And Vegeta can tell that something is up with me; he approached me about it this morning. I told him everything was fine but I know he didn't believe me. I'm just afraid of what his reaction will be."

"Well, I can tell you that when I first met Vegeta I thought he was very. . .uh, how do I say this nicely?" Videl paused, tapping her index finger against her chin in thought. "He was very. . .intimidating, and impossible to reason with. But I have noticed the past few years since the fight with Buu that he has mellowed out and seems a lot softer now, especially towards you. I think he will be more than willing to listen to you if you give him the chance."

Bulma smiled slightly at the younger pregnant woman. "I guess you're right. I have always been one of the only people he's ever listened to. I think I'm going to tell him tonight, since we have the house to ourselves and won't have any interruptions."

"Yes, I think tonight will be perfect," Chi-Chi nodded in agreement, "just let him know exactly how you feel. Give him a little time to soak it in, don't take no for an answer, and then get straight to business! That's what I did with Goku!"

Videl quivered slightly at the last part, not wanting to hear such information about her in-laws. But she recovered quickly and turned to the turquoise-haired woman beside her with a grin. "Chi-Chi is right! Let him know how you feel and then. . .well, you know what to do!"

Bulma giggled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, feeling a sense of confidence wash over her. "I guess I can't argue with you guys. Tonight will be the night then!"

* * *

Later that evening, Bulma sat down on the sofa in her living room with a tall glass of red wine in her hand. She loved her son dearly, but having the night off from parenting was exactly what she had needed. After she had left Chi-Chi's (and promising to let her know first thing in the morning how things went tonight) she had gone into her lab and completed all the assignments her father had left for her while he was on vacation with her mother, which had took a load off her shoulders since she had a short deadline to get them done. After that, she had time to take a nice, long bubble bath, something she hadn't had much time to do lately. And now she was relaxing with her favorite wine while she waited for Vegeta to get done with his training.

She was attempting to use this time to herself to go over what to say to Vegeta, not wanting to overwhelm him. She just had to remember what Chi-Chi said: let him soak it all in and don't take no for an answer! And besides, Videl and Chi-Chi were right about Vegeta being much different this time around than he was during her pregnancy with Trunks. They were in love now, truly in love, while with Trunks they were nothing more than friends with benefits. . .though she wouldn't have exactly considered themselves 'friends' back then since they hardly interacted outside of the bedroom. The Vegeta she was dealing with now was nothing like the person he was when they had first met. Maybe this would all go over more smoothly than she thought.

"Hmm. . .how do I start this off?" she pondered, taking a liberal sip of her wine.

"Start what off?"

She nearly spilt her wine all over the floor as she leapt a foot in the air, her heart beating at double overtime. She tipped her head back after regaining her composure, looking up to see Vegeta standing over her with a cunning smirk. She noticed immediately how his muscles were all tight from training, and beads of sweat were sliding down his bare chest. She felt a warmth beginning to build up between her thighs from her examination of his impeccable physique.

"What's the big idea sneaking up on me like that?" she huffed, tearing her eyes away from his body.

His smirk deepened and he bent down and gently nibbled at her ear, his nostrils picking up on the scent of strawberry from her bubble bath. "You know what I want, and I want it now," he whispered fervently, moving his lips to graze over her neck, further increasing the heat between her thighs.

Bulma became dizzy, unsure if it was caused by Vegeta's actions or the wine kicking in. She then let out a sigh and knew before this went any farther she would have to tell Vegeta about what was on her mind. She reluctantly pulled back from him, which resulted in him growling low in his throat. "Actually, Vegeta, could I talk to you about something first?" she asked with batted eyes.

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow in curiosity, though he was a bit irritated she had cut off his exploration of her body. "Alright, but make this quick. We have business to attend to."

Bulma gulped down the rest of her wine as Vegeta leaped over the sofa to sit down beside her, sitting the empty glass down on the coffee table in front of her. She felt Vegeta's dark eyes focus on her intently as she stared down at her hands fastened together in her lap. "Vegeta," she began slowly, "you were right this morning about there being something on my mind, and I think now is the time to tell you."

"Of course I was right. You think I'm that dense that I can't tell when something is wrong with my own mate? Now go on and tell me what all this is about," he grumbled, becoming impatient as she took a long pause before answering.

All the wine in her system suddenly made her feel rather bold and she looked him square in the eye as she turned to face him more. "W-what are your thoughts on us having another child?"

Vegeta's eyes became as wide as saucers. He stared at her blankly for a few minutes, his mind slowly processing her question. He opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking finally. "When Kakarot had babbled on about the subject matter at Trunks' party I told him I wasn't sure of my answer at all."

"Oh," Bulma mouthed, biting down on her lower lip.

Vegeta noticed her shoulders slump, her eyes becoming uncharacteristically hollow. He tipped her chin up with his thumb, forcing her to look at him. "Tell me why you are asking me about this," he demanded, though his voice was softer than usual.

She felt a tear she had tried to suppress slide down her cheek, an array of emotions suddenly overtaking her. "I. . .I. . .dammit, I want another child!" she cried out, now freely releasing her tears.

Vegeta's eyes widened even more, and his jaw hung open for a moment in shock. After sitting in silence for what felt like an eternity, he let out a breath of air and raked a hand through his spikey mane. "So. . . _this_  is what has been bothering you all this time, wanting a second child?"

She nodded, becoming afraid of his answer. She looked straight ahead at the wall in front of her, not daring to make eye contact with him.

Vegeta leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, his facial expression giving nothing away as to what he was thinking. He spent the next few minutes inside his own head, contemplating on the idea of him and Bulma having a second child. They were certainly much older than they were when they first had Trunks, but also much wiser and more mature. Everything about their relationship now was completely different than it was back when their son was born. Trunks was conceived out of pure lust, nothing more; they weren't even a couple. He was a terrible father at first, not giving two shits about Bulma or Trunks, ignoring them both the majority of the time. But now, he thought as his gaze shifted over to Bulma, this woman was now his wife, the most important person in the world to him. All he wanted was for her to be happy, and he could tell this something that she truly wanted.

Maybe this time around he could get things right, with parenting a second child. The world was now at peace and would most likely stay that way, which was an ideal time to raise a child. Trunks was born just before the arrival of the Androids and Cell, and then when he was only eight-years-old he was forced to join in the fight with Majin Buu. This new child would never have to go through anything like any of that, giving them a chance at normal life, and he would be sure not to push this child to train at a young age like he had with Trunks. And this time around he would make sure to be a much kinder and more attentive father, but not too soft like Kakarot. Now that he thought about all this, the idea of a second child actually didn't seem that bad.

Bulma trembled as Vegeta took one of her hands and lightly kissed it, holding her breath in anticipation of what he would say. "Woman. . .Bulma," he began in a low voice, still testing out what to say in his head. "You and I both know that the circumstances surrounding Trunks' birth were not ideal, since he was a mistake. But things are vastly different now. . .we are different. . .I am different. If you would have asked me this question five years ago I would have flat-out said no, that one brat was already too many. But now. . .now. . .that would not be my answer."

"Vegeta. . .a-are you saying what I think you are?" she asked hoarsely, leaning more into him.

Vegeta gave her one of his rare, sincere smiles, making her heart melt. "If this is truly what you desire, then yes, we can have another child."

Tears once again welled up in Bulma's eyes, but this time they were tears of pure joy. She flung her arms around him, almost knocking him backwards. She had never felt as elated as she did in this moment. Vegeta, the most selfish, stubborn person she had ever encountered in her life, had just pleasantly agreed to having another child. She didn't have to argue or beg, and he was doing it because he knew it would make  _her_  happy. Oh, how she loved this man with every fiber of her being.

Vegeta then pulled himself out of her grasp with a smirk, tugging at the strap of her nightgown. "Now, that's enough talking for tonight. You're in luck that I thoroughly enjoy the process of making a child."

Bulma gave him a mischievous look, her lips curving up. She let her smile speak for itself as Vegeta tucked her up into his arms and carried her up to their bedroom. Both of them knew that from here on out there lives would never be the same again.


	3. The Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visitor arrives at Capsule Corp., but what do they want?

The golden rays of the rising morning sun seeped in through the blinds of Bulma and Vegeta's bedroom, which made her crack her eyes open in irritation since she didn't get much sleep last night. Not that she minded in the slightest. She glanced over at the alarm clock on her dresser, the red digits displaying that it was 8:00 AM. Bulma let out a jaw-cracking yawn and pulled the covers up over her face, attempting to block out the brightness of the sun. Just as she was about to drift back off to sleep the phone rang, and the ringing sound echoed loudly throughout the silent bedroom, making it impossible to ignore. She let out a groan and blindly reached over for the phone that was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. She finally grabbed ahold of it and answered hello in a curt voice.

"BULMA!" Chi-Chi's shrill voice screeched on the other end, making Bulma wince. "I know it's early and all, but you won't believe what I found in Goten's room! It was a filthy magazine with a bunch of naked tramps in it! And Goten claims he got it from YOUR son!"

"Wait, what?! I have no clue how he could have gotten that!" Bulma bellowed, now becoming fully awake, her blood pressure rising immensely.

"Well, I don't give a rat's ass where he could have gotten it from, I'm not gonna let him corrupt my precious little Goten with that trash! Now, I know you're Trunks parent so I didn't feel it was my place to discipline him but I would appreciate it if you would come over and get him. I-"

"Okay, okay, Chi-Chi I'll be right over," Bulma answered with exasperation, not even letting her friend answer before hanging up.

She let out a string of curses, not in the mood to deal with all this. She sat up and attempted to get out of bed, but before her feet could touch the ground something akin to warm steel wrapped around her waist, plopping her back down against the mattress with a soft thump. She twisted around to face Vegeta, who was staring back at her with a smirk. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"Chi-Chi just called all upset and told me that somehow Trunks got ahold of a dirty magazine and showed it to Goten," Bulma sighed, combing a hand through her disheveled hair.

Vegeta made a grunting sound of amusement. "I knew that boy would get caught sooner or later with that rubbish."

"You KNEW he had this?! Did YOU give it to him?" Bulma asked, her voice dripping with venom, her eyes narrowing threateningly, ready to beat the crap out of him. Well, at least attempt to anyway.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Foolish woman, why the hell would I have such a thing? I don't need to look at a bunch of vulgar women in some magazine. Besides, I have my own naked woman right in front of me to keep me occupied."

Bulma looked down at herself and realized for the first time that they were both still naked from their activities last night. She bit her lip on a smile and giggled. "That's right! I guess when you're married to the most beautiful and ageless woman on the planet there's not much else that can capture your attention, eh?"

". . .Anyway," Vegeta continued, slightly annoyed at her vainness, "that old lecherous man gave it to Trunks on his birthday. I even told him if he wanted to keep such a thing he would have to deal with the consequences of getting caught with it by you."

"Well, he's about to get a piece of my mind, that's for sure! And so will that piece of shit Master Roshi for giving him such a thing," she huffed, getting out of the bed and shrugging into her robe. She strolled over to her closet and picked out an outfit which consisted of one of her multitude of tanktops and shorts, not really feeling like dressing up too much. When she reappeared in the bedroom she found Vegeta fully dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed pulling on one of his boots. She was amazed at how fast he could do things. Not that he did  _everything_  fast, she conceded with a blush. A small smile crept onto her face at the memory of last night; it was one of the best they had ever had. And most special. For the first time in a long while she felt completely hopeful about the future.

Vegeta noticed her intent examination of him and smirked devilishly. "What? Do you want seconds or something?"

"Oh, please, you're too full of yourself," Bulma said with a wave of her hand. She had to take his ego down a peg. And besides, Chi-Chi was waiting on her and would no doubt be furious if she was late so they wouldn't have time anyway. Though she had to admit his offer was incredibly tempting.

Vegeta didn't buy her response and advanced her slowly, making her weak in the knees, leaning up against the wall for support. "If you say so," he taunted as his smirk became more pronounced, his hands resting on her hips sensuously, threatening to delve lower to her pleasure spot.

Not being able to fully resist him, she leaned up and gave him a long, slow kiss, barely able to resist the urge to rip his clothes off and start last night's adventures all over again. Damn that Chi-Chi! When they pulled apart they gave each other a knowing look, both realizing that their relationship had only strengthened after all that had taken place lately. A new chapter was taking place in their lives as they were on their way to being parents for the second time. It was exhilarating to say the least.

Bulma reluctantly moved away from him and reached for her capsules on the dresser. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that Goku asked yesterday if you would spar with him sometime soon."

Vegeta smirked cunningly and cracked his knuckles. "Tell the fool I'll pencil him into my schedule."

"Alright then," Bulma said with a half-grin, noticing Vegeta was less irritated than he used to would have been years ago if Goku had asked such a question about them training together.

She gave him one last quick kiss before leaving and then drove off in her car towards Mount Paozu. She arrived forty-five minutes later and rushed up to the door, but before she could knock the door flung open, revealing Chi-Chi behind it. She was dressed in nothing but her lavender nightgown, her long glossy hair free from its usual bun and hanging down her shoulders. She had obviously been so distraught by the whole magazine situation that she hadn't even had time to fix herself up. Though she honestly looked ten years younger that way.

"I am so sorry to make you come over here this early, but I was just so furious! I got up to make breakfast and I heard the boys laughing down the hall and when I went to check on them that's when I caught them with that magazine! And of course my husband is completely useless; I went in to tell him about it and he just kept snoozing away like it was no big deal!" Chi-Chi puffed, leading Bulma to the living room where the two troublemakers sat on the couch.

Goten had tears streaming down his cheeks, still recovering from the brutal pain of the ten spankings Chi-Chi had given him, his hands clenched together in his lap as he avoided eye contact with his mother. Trunks on the other hand sat as cool as cucumber, an arrogant look on his face as he had not even an ounce of fear of punishment. Before either of the two women could speak Goten wailed loudly, earning a repulsed look from his best friend. "I'm sorry, Mom and Miss Bulma; I didn't mean to look at the magazine! I only looked at it because Trunks showed me a naked lady eating a candy bar, and you know I can't resist a candy bar!"

Trunks rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in the same stance that Vegeta always did. He didn't even realize how much he was like his father with his mannerisms and attitude. "Well, crybaby over there can apologize all he wants to, but  _I'm_  not sorry. I'm old enough to do what I want. I'm a man now; I touch myself and everything."

". . .Why would you touch yourself?" Goten asked completely baffled, his innocent mind totally clueless.

Bulma felt a vein pop in her head and she walked right over to where her son was sitting, looming over him aggressively. "Trunks Briefs, you are only thirteen years old, and in my eyes you are still a child. And that means I do not wanting you looking at that stuff. Once you turn eighteen you can do whatever the hell you want but until then you live by my rules, and you are to never look at that garbage again!"

"Well, mother," Trunks looked up at her with a sly grin, "a little birdie told me that when you were younger you didn't act much different from those girls in the magazine."

It took all of Chi-Chi's strength not to bust out laughing, knowing that what Trunks just said was damn true (and one of the reason Chi-Chi didn't care much for Bulma in their younger days), but she did her best to mask her amusement. Goten flashed Bulma a toothy grin as he eyed her up and down. "I always figured you had a naughty side, Miss Bulma. Trunks told me about all the times he walked in on you and Vegeta."

"GOTEN!" the room shouted in unison.

Bulma blushed a deep shade of red and blew her bangs out of her eyes. She knew when she was much younger that she was a bit of a wild child, but she wasn't the slut that some portrayed her to be. Yamcha and Vegeta were the only men she had ever been with in her life, after all. ". . .I'm not going to defend myself to you, young man," she answered finally, doing her best to keep her composure. "What I use to do is none of your damn business. Now you get your hiney up off that couch 'cause we're going home. You've caused poor Chi-Chi enough stress!"

"Whatever," Trunks mumbled under his breath and hopped off the couch. Chi-Chi then grabbed Bulma by the arm before she reached the door and leaned in close to where Trunks couldn't hear. "So, uh, how did things go with you and Vegeta last night?"

Bulma giggled and gave her a thumbs-up, earning a delighted squeal from Chi-Chi who flung her arms around her friend. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

Trunks raised an eyebrow skeptically as he looked over at the two elated women, puzzled as to what could be such good news. He waited until him and Bulma had exited the house and gotten into the car before speaking. "Mom, what were you and Chi-Chi so excited about?"

Bulma looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she buckled her seatbelt, unsure if she should tell him. He would no doubt be taken aback by the whole thing, but she wasn't officially pregnant yet so she didn't want to say anything about the subject matter just yet. She wanted to wait until she knew for sure before spilling the beans. "It's nothing major," she said casually as she started the car.

"Pff," Trunks spat as he leaned back against his seat. "It sounded like it  _was_  something major by the way you two were acting. It was one of the only times I've seen Chi-Chi actually happy about something instead of yelling or screaming."

She glanced at him briefly, a sigh escaping her lips as she turned her attention back to the road. Maybe she could hint at it, just to see what his reaction would be. ". . .Don't you think it's neat how a new baby is about to join the gang, you know, with Videl being pregnant and all?"

"Not really," Trunks said blandly, staring outside the passenger window at the blur of scenery going by.

Bulma felt her heart leap into her throat. Well, that certainly wasn't a great response. "Why do you say that?" she asked quietly as she came to a stop light.

Trunks shrugged. "I dunno. When I was younger I use to think it would be cool to have a sibling and have somebody to play with. I was especially always jealous of Goten for having a brother. But now that I'm older and don't have time for kiddy stuff I think it would just be annoying to have a baby around. All they're good for is pooping and crying. Goten's all excited about being an uncle but I think it's pretty lame. And Gohan will make one cheeseball of a dad at that."

Bulma bit her bottom lip, unsure of what to say. She knew Trunks would more than likely be overwhelmed by having a sibling, especially since there would be a thirteen year age gap between them. But he seemed downright disgusted with the whole idea, which really damped her mood. Trunks noticed her exasperated expression and quirked an eyebrow, his azure eyes incredulous. "Are you  _sure_  there's nothing you want to tell me?"

She nodded and smiled the best she could, doing her best not to get overemotional while driving. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"K," he grumbled and turned his attention back to the window, though he was not at all satisfied with her response. Bulma tucked a strand of stray hair out of her eyes and sighed, knowing it wouldn't be long before Trunks found out the truth, whether he liked it or not.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Bulma was sitting anxiously in the doctor's office, her heart beating so loudly she could have sworn she heard it echo throughout the small room. She had not been feeling well lately, plagued by morning sickness and stomachaches, and unlike a normal person, she was blissfully excited by it. She knew what it meant, but she had come to the doctor's that morning just to make sure her instincts were correct. After what felt like a small eternity of waiting a nurse walked out into the lobby and called her into one of the back rooms. After performing the necessary tests, the nurse informed her that the doctor would look over the test results and be right in. Bulma fidgeted in anticipation and began to fiddle with her fingers, nervous and excited at the same time. She could hardly sit still, let alone even think clearly. Her mind was racing in a million different directions.

The door then opened and an elderly woman appeared with a grin. Bulma noticed that the woman looked incredibly happy as she stared down at the test results, indicating that it was good news. "Well, Mrs. Briefs, I won't lie to you, you are a bit on the older side so I was a bit surprised when you requested a pregnancy test, but nonetheless I am delighted to tell you that you are indeed pregnant!"

Bulma was so elated with the news that she decided to let the older woman's jab about her age slide. She was obviously just jealous about how Bulma aged like a fine wine, anyway. Wine. . .Bulma suddenly sagged, knowing that that delicious liquid would now be cut out of her diet for the next nine months. And the occasional pack of cigarettes she would have from time to time had to go as well. But it was definitely worth it now that her dream of having a second child was officially a reality! She was positive that nothing could ruin her mood; she had never been happier. She was on cloud nine as she walked out to her car, her cheeks hurting from how much she had been smiling. As she started her car she took out her cell phone and called Chi-Chi, wanting her to be the first to know the good news since she had been the one that encouraged her to go through with the whole thing in the first place.

"Hello?" Chi-Chi answered the phone politely.

"Cheech, you won't believe the news I have to tell you!" Bulma squealed with glee into the phone, so happy and oblivious to her surroundings that she nearly ran a red light, which honestly wasn't much different from her usual driving habits.

"What is it?!. . .wait a second, are you-"

"Yep, I'm pregnant! I'm on my way home from the doctor right now. And it's all thanks to you, since you are the one that pushed me to go through with telling Vegeta about wanting a second child!"

"Oh, Bulma that's fantastic! Now my daughter-in-law and best friend will be pregnant around the same time! And no need to thank me, you and Vegeta did all the hard work. Now get home safe and tell your hubby the wonderful news!" Chi-Chi exclaimed animatedly from the other end.

"Right, I will! Bye!" Bulma beamed, hanging up the phone and placing it back in her pocket. She arrived home ten minutes later and skidded into the driveway, eager to get out and find Vegeta. After taking a quick look at herself in the rearview mirror she hoped out of the vehicle and sprinted inside to find her husband. She ran over to where the gravity room was and rapped on the door a dozen times, barely able to contain her excitement. "VEGETA!" she called loudly, jogging in place as she awaited his presence, feeling as though she was on a caffeine rush from all the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

The gravity room door slid open a few seconds later and Vegeta stood in front of her, beads of sweat glistening off his muscles from his training session. He was completely perplexed at her excitement as she grinned at him ear to ear. "What in the hell has got you so ecstatic?" he quizzed with a quirked eyebrow as he leaned up against the doorframe.

Bulma let out a string of giggles before she answered. "Oh, Vegeta, I'm having a baby. . .we're having a baby!"

Vegeta nearly lost his balance as she leapt into his arms, kissing his cheek several times, leaving red lipstick stains all over the side of his face. Vegeta processed her words slowly, unsure if he even heard her right. He then sensed the microscopic flicker of Ki from inside her stomach, letting him know it was officially true. They really were having another child.

"Well, aren't you excited?" Bulma asked as she gleamed up at him, her sapphire eyes sparkling brighter than ever. He had never seen her happier, and that secretly made him happy. He really had made a fine choice deciding to go through with having another baby. He was still unsure about all the major life changes that would take place, but he was doing it for her. And her alone. This is what he lived for now, to be the reason she had a smile on her face.

Vegeta smirked in response and kissed the top of her head. "I guess you could say that, seeing as how this is what you truly wanted."

Bulma nodded and rested her head against his chest as he held her close, feeling totally secure and peaceful in that moment. Everything really seemed to be falling into place. Maybe even her dream of having a little girl would come true, her own personal little mini-me to dress up and pamper. A blissful sigh escaped her lips. Life was perfect.

Well, almost perfect.

There was still one tiny detail she had almost forgotten about: telling Trunks the news that he was about to be a big brother. And judging from the way he acted that day in the car a couple of weeks ago he would be none too pleased by the news.

"I still have to tell Trunks the news, and I don't think he will be thrilled with it," she groaned, looking down at the floor dejectedly.

Vegeta shrugged. "I wouldn't let what that brat thinks bother you too much. He'll get over it eventually."

"I guess you're right," Bulma agreed with a nod, absently rubbing at her temple. "And besides, he's at school now so I'll have a few hours to go over how to break the news to him. But in the meantime I'm going to take a nap. I'm exhausted!"

Vegeta nodded and planted a quick kiss on her lips before returning back to the gravity room to continue with his training for the day. Bulma strolled into the bedroom she shared with Vegeta and collapsed face down on the bed, her face coming into direct contact with her fluffy pillow. She pulled the twisted covers up over herself and closed her eyes, eager to get some sleep before breaking the news to Trunks, which would be exhausting in itself.

She was halfway asleep when a knock on the door interrupted her slumber.

"Bulma, honey, come here quick! There's a special visitor waiting on you down stairs!" Mrs. Briefs called as she cracked the door open, a wide smile on her face.

Bulma opened her eyes in confusion. A visitor? She wasn't expecting anyone. "Who is it?" she asked curiously as she got to her feet, stretching her arms up above her head.

"You'll see! Just come on, dear!" Mrs. Briefs high-pitched voice floated from down the hallway.

Bulma raked a hand through her hair to make it look as presentable as she could and made her way down the hall. She had no clue who could be waiting on her so she rushed down the stairs, too eager to see who it could be. As she got to the bottom of the stairs her heart stopped beating in her chest, her breath escaping her completely as she caught sight of a familiar figure standing in the living room.

. . .It was her son. . .

From the future.


	4. Welcome Back, Trunks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mirai Trunks has returned, but why is here?

Bulma's sapphire eyes welled up with tears as she laid her eyes on the future version of her son. She truly never thought she would see him again, so she was pleasantly surprised to see him standing in front of her. She noticed how much physically he had changed since she last saw him; he was in his thirties now, after all. He was still tall and handsome, his azure eyes as bright as ever. But his boyish features he used to have were much sharper and defined now; she giggled as she noticed he had a five o'clock shadow.

She ran up to him and leapt into his arms, squeezing him tightly. He smiled and welcomingly hugged her back, equally as happy to see her. It had truly been too long. She then pulled back and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Oh, Trunks I never thought I would see you again! What on earth are you doing here?"

Mirai Trunks looked down at her with a small grin, flicking a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. "Well, so much has happened recently in my timeline and I knew I could come here and be safe."

Bulma gave him a quizzical look, titling her head slightly. "Safe from what?"

As he opened his mouth to speak he caught sight of a familiar figure coming down the stairs and broke out into a smile. "Father...it's so good to see you again."

Bulma turned around and saw Vegeta approaching them with a puzzled look, but he was smirking as he made eye contact with Mirai Trunks. Like Bulma, he didn't ever expect to see him again so it was quite staggering to see him standing in the living room. "I thought I sensed your Ki. Why are you here, son?"

"That's what I was just about to tell Mom, I'm here because-"

*swish!*

_Damn, will I ever get a word in?!_

Before he could once again finish his sentence a flash appeared and revealed Goku with two fingers to his forehead as Gohan and Goten stood at his side. "TRUNKS!" Goku beamed as he slapped the younger half-Saiyan on the back. "I knew that power level I sensed had to belong to you!"

"Yeah!" Gohan nodded in agreement, smiling at his old friend. "I didn't expect to see you again!"

Mirai Trunks smiled wide at Gohan, noticing how much he had matured, though he could tell he still had the same gentle spirit as before. "Yeah, man, it's great to see you again! And...uh, Goku? I thought you were dead and didn't want to be wished back after the battle with Cell?"

Goku laughed sheepishly and put one hand behind his head. "Oh, yeah it's one long story but basically I was granted a life from a Kai about five years ago and now I'm alive again!"

Mirai Trunks quirked an eyebrow. As crazy as it sounded he knew better than to doubt the older Saiyan. After all he witnessed in the battle with the Androids and Cell he knew Goku was capable of anything. "Uh, alright I'll take your word for it."

Goten, totally oblivious to the fact that his best friend had a future self, stood next to Mirai Trunks and examined him closely, making the older half-Saiyan tense up. "Dang, Trunks you went through puberty really fast!"

"Uh, and you are?..." Mirai Trunks asked perplexed as he stared down at the mini-Goku.

Bulma snickered at the interaction, loving how Goten really thought that Trunks went through a nearly two-foot growth spurt overnight. "Goten, this IS Trunks, but not your best friend Trunks. This is his future self that came and helped us save the world before you were born."

"And, Trunks, this is my son Goten," Goku smiled as he ruffled his youngest son's hair. "The night before the Cell Games I gave Chi-Chi a little going away present and Goten was the result of it, haha!"

"Kakarot, don't make us gag!" Vegeta spat with a look of total and complete disgust, shivering at that mental image. Though he was sure it couldn't have been that great of a going away present for Chi-Chi, knowing that his fellow Saiyan wasn't competent enough to satisfy a woman.

Goku gave his old rival a sly grin and nudged him with his elbow. "Hehe, while we're on the subject that's why we all came over here. We wanted to congratulate you and Bulma on your little bun in the oven! Chi-Chi told us all about it!"

"Yeah, it's really exciting! With you and Videl pregnant so closely together there's about to be two new babies joining the gang!" Gohan added with merriment.

Bulma beamed, happy as can be, while Vegeta simply rolled his eyes, barely resisting the urge to inform Gohan that his child will sure as hell he stronger than his brat. Mirai Trunks looked over at his parents with wide eyes, his mouth slightly hanging open in shock. He stared down bewilderedly at Bulma's stomach which was still perfectly flat. "You're pregnant?"

She nodded, unable to hide the bliss she was feeling, her eyes sparkling like never before. Mirai Trunks didn't know what to say. She was carrying the sibling he could never even dream of having. It was surreal. He had no idea how much things had changed since he last saw them.

Bulma saw the uneasiness on his face, knowing it must be hard for him to see her pregnant since he would never have a sibling of his own. This was just another reminder of how difficult his upbringing was. She cleared her throat and turned to him with a smile, attempting to change the subject. "Now, Trunks you were about to tell me why you were here before all the interruptions occured."

Mirai Trunks suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "Oh, it can wait...I don't want to spoil this occasion; you just found out you're pregnant."

"Nonsense!" Bulma said with a casual wave of her hand. "It must be something important if you traveled all the way here!"

"Yes, son we aren't that dense. Something had to have happened for you to be back," Vegeta agreed, crossing his arms over his chest in his usual stance.

Trunks made eye contact with the floor, his silky lavender bangs falling into his eyes. "Well...this is really difficult for me to say, but...my mother..." he took a deep breath, "she was murdered."

"WHAT!" The whole room gasped.

They all glanced over at Bulma, who lost all color from her face and began to shake. Vegeta moved closer to her and reached out and gently gripped her hand to comfort her. He knew Bulma hearing that made her feel like  _she_  was the one that had died; it was just eerie. He felt the same way, too, that it was his wife that had just died. But he'd be damned if he'd let anything like that ever happen to his Bulma. They'd kill her over his dead body.

Goku's usual cheery disposition vanished and his expression became somber, his mouth twitching into a hard line. "Who would have done something like that to her? Your timeline should be one of peace now."

Mirai Trunks let out a puff of air before answering. "All I know is that I had been calling to check on her for days and she wouldn't answer," he paused and everyone noticed his eyes fill up with tears he desperately tried to hold in, the memory of that day too painful to even think about. "So I went over to her place to check on her...when I went inside the house I called out to her but she didn't answer...then I found her in the living room lying in a pool of blood...she had no pulse."

Everyone was dead silent, unable to speak. Bulma especially was shell-shocked. She never got to meet her future counterpart, but she, in a way, felt incredibly guilty. Her future counterpart lived a hard life; she lived in a broke future and lost Vegeta too soon in life, raising Trunks all on her own. And now she lost her life in the most tragic way, never even getting to say goodbye to her son, the only person she had in the world. Bulma, however, hadn't even faced a fraction of the hardship her future counterpart experienced. She and Vegeta had been privileged enough to make a life together, getting married and raising Trunks together. And now they were expecting their second child, which was something her future self couldn't even dream of. It just didn't seem fair how vastly different their lives were; her future counterpart deserved to have the same life, but unfortunately that's not how things worked out for her. If anything this just reminded Bulma not to take anything, or anyone, for granted. Life was much more fragile than she bothered to realize; times of peace made her forget that.

"So you really don't know who did this?" Vegeta asked inaudibly, his eyes hallow as he tried not to picture Bulma covered in blood. Such an image disturbed him more than he wanted to let on.

Mirai Trunks hesitated, looking as though he was internally battling with himself. He looked at everyone through his eyelashes as he finally answered in a raspy voice.

"No."

Everyone slumped, desperately wanting clues as to who could do such an evil thing.

"...But," he continued, "that's why I'm here. I was wondering if I could stay here for a while. There's nothing really left for me in the future without my mom."

"Don't you have a girlfriend? There's no way such a handsome guy like you couldn't have one!" Bulma said with a wink, desperately trying to lighten the mood, for her own sanity if anything. She didn't want to talk anymore about her future self's death.

Trunks smiled self-consciously with a faint blush. "No, unfortunately dating isn't that easy in a post-apocalyptic world."

"Well," Bulma sniffled, hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe, "you are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like! We are more than happy to have you."

Mirai Trunks smiled fondly down at her, knowing that this version of his mother was the same as his own that had raised him. It brought him great comfort in that moment to be hugging her, his heart not feeling as broken as it had before. He knew staying in the past for a while would definitely help him heal faster.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Everyone turned around to see Trunks, who was glaring deeply as he carelessly tossed his bookbag across the floor, almost knocking a nearby table with a priceless vase on top of it over, not that he seemed to care.

Mirai Trunks stared at his past counterpart intently. He hadn't seen him since he was a baby all those years ago. It was weird looking at his teenage self, like a flash of déjà vu before his very eyes. The age his past self was now was the age he was when he first became a Super Saiyan. He wondered if this version of himself had already mastered that feat. He assumed he already had since he grew up with Vegeta and probably made him train day in and day out. It seemed Vegeta's attitude had also rubbed off on the kid, seeing as how arrogant he appeared, standing with his arms crossed just like his father.

Trunks' eyes grew impossibly wide as he stared at his future self, almost having a mini-heart attack. "What the heck...you look just like me! Mom, was this one of your crazy experiments where you tried to clone me or something?"

"First off, my experiments aren't crazy!" Bulma snapped, placing her hands on her hips. "And be polite! This is your future self that came when you were a baby and helped us beat the Androids and Cell. He will be staying with us for a while."

"Hmm..." Trunks hummed as he eyeballed Mirai Trunks, who stared back with a blank expression, unsure of what to make of the younger version of himself. "I hope I don't look as dweeby as you when I'm older."

Mirai Trunks flinched. Yeah, this kid was nothing like him. He couldn't imagine being so rude and cocky.  _And I don't look dweeby!_

Goten suddenly broke into a grin as he raced up to his best friend and nudged him in the shoulder. "Isn't it cool to have your older self here? He's old enough to have a credit card and that means he can buy you candy!"

"Pftt, whatever," Trunks snipped, pushing hair out of his eyes in the same fashion his future self always did. "I have an allowance of 1,000 zenie. I can buy my own candy."

"You'll probably have to learn to share your candy now that you're gonna be a big brother," Goten said matter-of-factly, having no clue Bulma and Vegeta hadn't spilt the beans yet about the newest edition to the family.

Trunks froze. "Big brother? What are you talking about, dipshit?"

The entire room looked over at Bulma and Vegeta, who both looked frantic, though Vegeta masked it better. Bulma felt her heart sink.  _Thanks Goten for breaking the news like that_. She stepped forward towards her son, doing her best to keep a smile on her face even though she knew this was not about to be pretty. "Trunks...I'm pregnant."

His azure eyes grew impossibly wide as he processed her words, and a look of something akin to hurt took over his face. But as quickly as the look came he smothered it with a look of anger, snarling as he looked up at his mother. "What the FUCK?! I come home from a crappy day at school and find my less-cool future self is here and living with us AND my mom who is getting really old is pregnant. You and dad are so sex-crazed! It's called a condom, learn to use one!"

Vegeta stepped between Bulma and Trunks without any warning, catching Bulma off guard. He clenched his fists and stared down venomously at his son, never looking as angry as he did just then. "You better watch your goddamn mouth before I beat the living shit out of you! I've had it with your behavior and I've let you get away with too much. You will not talk to your mother like that and get away with it," he threatened, and he could see the fear forming on his son's face. He knew he was serious.

Bulma was appreciative of her husband's defense but she felt so hurt by Trunks' words. Everything was a lose/lose situation with him. She looked over at her future son and noticed how shocked he was by his younger self's actions. She was more grateful than Mirai Trunks knew for his presence, since he was so calm and humble, unlike her own son. It seemed her future self did a much better job raising him than she had with her own son. She let Trunks get too spoiled in times of peace and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass.

Trunks stared back at his father, his own eyes narrowing angrily, ready to defend himself against Vegeta. He knew Vegeta would keep his word and kick his ass, of that he was certain. He had no fear in talking back to Bulma; she was physically weak and couldn't do any real damage to him. But Vegeta was a whole other story. He knew it would be best if he just backed off; he didn't feel like enduring any beatings. He turned his back on everyone and proceeded to walk up the stairs to his room. "I hope this baby wasn't a 'mistake' like I was," he seethed over his shoulder, his glare directed at Bulma.

Before anyone could answer he dashed up the stairs and slammed his door shut with all his might, nearly cracking the ceiling in the process.

"Uh, that was awkward. Trunks is becoming a real meanie and needs one of my mom's spankings!" Goten said exasperatedly as he scratched his head.

"Speaking of your Mom, Chi-Chi said she we better be back in time for dinner so I think we should all leave," he said, motioning to his two sons who nodded in response. He knew Bulma and Vegeta didn't need them hanging around any longer with all that just transpired.

As Goku placed two fingers to his forehead he turned back to Bulma and Vegeta and chuckled. "Hey, if you two are as 'sex-crazed' as Trunks said you'll be happy to know it's safe to have sex during pregnancy!"

"Really? That's good to know, I was worried I'd hurt Videl if I got carried away!" Gohan exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You clowns get the hell out of my house!" Vegeta barked, having enough of the Son family for one day.

Goku winked in response and then him and his two sons disappeared in a flash. Mirai Trunks smiled as he watched them go. Goku and Gohan were just as cheerful as they use to be, and Goten didn't seem any different. Though he wasn't sure how someone with Goten's personality got along so well with someone like his past self. But then again, if he was anything like Goku he chose to see the best in everyone. Maybe he could learn to see the best in his younger self as well. He turned to his parents and sighed. "I am so sorry if me being here is causing you more stress than you need. I noticed you seem to have your hands full."

Bulma shook her head briskly. "No, not at all! You being here is a breath of fresh air. As you can see my son is a bit of a pain the butt to put it mildly. You are the exact opposite so you will cause no trouble being here. Now come on I'll prepare you a room!"

"Thank you," Mirai Trunks said appreciatively, following behind her after giving Vegeta a nod of respect as he turned back towards the gravity room to finish his training for the day.

As Bulma and Mirai Trunks made their way up the stairs and down the hall, Trunks cracked his door open slightly and glared as they walked by. Mirai Trunks glanced back, attempting to smile at his bratty counterpart. He would at least try to be nice to him, though he could tell it wouldn't be an easy task.

Trunks' glare deepened as he made eye contact with his older self. "I don't trust you."

Mirai Trunks grinned knowingly. "That just means you don't trust yourself."

He heard Trunks let out a chocked sound of surprise as he turned his back on him, feeling victorious that he left him speechless.  _I'm more philosophical than I realized_ , he mused as he followed Bulma to the end of the hall where the guest room was.

She flicked the light on and examined the room, making sure it was neat and tidy. "I hope this will be okay for you," she said as she turned the bed sheets down and fluffed up the pillow for him.

He smiled warmly. "Yes, thank you, mother. I appreciate it more than you know."

She mirrored his smile and patted him on the back. "I am very excited to have you back. I just hope you can put up with a hormonal pregnant woman."

"I'm sure you won't be too bad," he laughed and fixated his eyes on the way the afternoon sun's rays were spreading throughout the room unevenly. "I see that you and dad are doing a lot better from the last time I was here."

 _Well, obviously_ , he said inwardly as he glanced at her stomach.

Bulma nodded, tucking a strand of teal hair behind her ear. She couldn't hide her smile. "Yeah, we've come a long way. Sometimes I can't believe how much Vegeta's changed. He can still be a total jerk sometimes but he's much...softer towards me, if that's the correct word."

"I'm glad. I knew he could change for the better. And I'm glad Goku's alive again. This timeline is doing much better than I thought."

"I'm just sorry about everything that happened in your time. You don't deserve it."

Mirai Trunks shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it but try to remain positive. I'm just glad I get to spend some time here for a while."

Bulma hugged him tightly once again, realizing in that moment how much she missed him. She would make sure his time here would be pleasant and help him cope the best she could with all he just endured.

"You just rest some and I will come get you when it's time to eat. I'll make sure Mom prepares you a big meal! I know how you Saiyans eat."

Mirai Trunks smiled and nodded in response. He watched her leave and shut the door, letting out a sigh. He flopped down on the bed, fixating his gaze on the ceiling. He was grateful to his parents' past counterparts for welcoming him back; he knew he was at ease here.

But...

There was more he had to tell them about what happened in his timeline. So much more. But it wasn't the time.

And that that was the problem…he didn't know when it would ever be the time.


	5. Differences and Similarities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During his stay in the past, Mirai Trunks finds that he has more in common with Trunks than he realized. And Goku has a bad feeling about the circumstances of future Bulma's murder, but Vegeta assures him he's overthinking things. Which of them is right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I apologize for being slow with updating! I have had a lot of personal things happen recently that have not been fun to deal with, but I'm finally getting around to updating. I also keep changing certain parts of the plot that have led to writer's block, but I think I've finally got it figured out. This chapter will mainly be about MTrunks and how he's been adjusting to life in the past timeline, and how he deals with bratty lil Trunks lol.

A week had passed since Mirai Trunks arrived in the past timeline, and he was quickly adjusting to all the changes that had occurred since his last visit. The main change he couldn't get over was how much Bulma and Vegeta's relationship had changed since the fight with Cell. He hadn't even seen them fight once; it was a complete night and day from over a decade ago. They seemed to be truly in love and supportive of each other, and he couldn't be happier about it. One thing he wasn't too pleased with, however, was his younger counterpart. The past week he had really observed how self-centered the teenager was. He especially couldn't believe how brash he was to Bulma, talking down to her with no remorse at all. For God's sake, she was pregnant! And the kid couldn't care less. There were times he really wanted to step in and give him a good talking to, since he himself had just gone through the pain of his own mother being brutally murdered recently. His younger self didn't realize what a gift it was to have both of his parents alive and together, and he hoped soon he could have a heart-to-heart with him.

_If I can even call it a heart-to-heart since the damn kid seems pretty heartless. . ._

"HEY, LOSER OLD GUY!"

_Speak of the fucking devil. . ._

Trunks appeared before him in the living room with Goten at his side, both of them looking rather mischievous. Bulma and Chi-Chi had gone into the city to have lunch together, and had left Vegeta in charge of babysitting duty. But since babysitting and the Saiyan Prince didn't mix well together, and he made it visibly noticeable, Mirai Trunks had volunteered to do it for him, figuring it would help him get to know the two younger demi-Saiyans better. Vegeta was gruffly grateful and had flown off to meet up with Goku to spar in the mountains outside of the city. The two boys had gone up to Trunks' room to play video games, and in turn Mirai Trunks had taken a peaceful sleep on the couch. He thought he had been asleep for at least a few hours, but as he checked the time on the wall clock he saw he had only been asleep for 45 minutes. That meant he had a whole other four hours with the boys, which he hoped would go by fast. He had heard stories of what a hassle the duo could be from Bulma.

"What do you guys want?" Mirai Trunks asked on a yawn as he got up off the couch.

"WE'RE HUNGRY!" the two shouted in unison, the growl of their stomachs echoing throughout the room.

Mirai Trunks sighed. He wasn't really much of a cook, mainly since in his timeline food was pretty scarce. "Uh, well what do you guys want?" he asked as he walked toward the kitchen, and they followed behind him to sit down at the table.

"Well, I want some roasted pork with three bowls of rice and corn on the cob. And two chicken legs and some mashed potatoes. And eggrolls. Oh, and chocolate cake with ice cream on the side for dessert," Goten grinned with drool running down his chin. His mind was clouded with daydreams of himself dancing with a baked chicken in a field of daisies.

"Yeah, what Goten said, and get to it!" Trunks quipped with a snap of his fingers.

_The fuck. . ._

Mirai Trunks went over to the refrigerator and peered in, seeing that nothing Goten had requested was in there. Not that he was going to make them all that anyway; he wasn't some sort of personal chef. "Uh, how 'bout we just order pizza?" he suggested with a nervous grin. Every kid liked pizza, right?

The two boys looked at each other in some sort of secret silence that only they could understand, and nodded. They turned back to Mirai Trunks and slowly grinned. "Alright, deal! But we each want five extra-large pizzas with toppings of our choice!" Trunks smirked.

"And that means no anchovies!" Goten said with a look of disgust, sticking his tongue out.

_Phew!_

"Agreed," Mirai Trunks grinned at the two boys.

"I'll call them since I put them on speed dial for when my mom is in charge of cooking," Trunks said as he took his cell phone out of his pocket and called the pizza place to put in the order. "They said they'll be here in fifteen minutes, even though that's too long," Trunks groaned as he placed his cell phone back in his pocket.

Mirai Trunks pulled three sodas out of the refrigerator and handed two of them to Goten and Trunks. "I don't even remember the last time I had pizza delivered in my timeline," he mused as he took a sip of the grape-flavored soda. There really wasn't many restaurants left standing after the destruction the Androids had caused.

"Man, that must suck! I would die without pizza!" Goten replied with horrified eyes, waiting for his soda to fizzle down before taking a sip. "My brother and dad told me all about when you visited years ago. You slashed some lizard guy in half with a sword! I think they said his named was, uh, Freezing or Freezer, something like that."

" _ **Frieza**_ ," Trunks corrected with a grimace, his azure eyes narrowing. "That guy was a douche to my Dad."

"Yeah, he was," Mirai Trunks agreed quietly. "I was more than happy to slice that bastard in half, pardon my language."

Trunks waved his hand casually. "Ah, don't worry about cussing around this place. My parents don't like it when I cuss, but I learned every bad word known to man from them. Especially my mom; she's a real potty mouth."

"I guess that's a quality she shared with my own mom," he chuckled fondly, happy to remember something that wasn't traumatic about his mother.

"Say, older Trunks?" Goten asked with quizzical dark eyes. "How long do you plan on staying here in this timeline?"

Mirai Trunks froze. That was all that had been on his mind since he first arrived, and he could never come to a conclusion about it. "I'm not sure, Goten. There's nothing for me in my timeline, so at the moment I have no desire to go back."

Trunks finished the last sip of his soda and crushed it with his fist, tossing it into the trashcan in the corner. "You can take my parents into your timeline with you, that way you won't be a loner, and I can have the house to myself and eat all the junk food I want. And read my magazines in solace," he said calmly, leaning back in his chair.

"You and those magazines," Goten frowned with a shake of his head.

Mirai Trunks quirked an eyebrow. He didn't understand what 'magazines' they were talking about, but he couldn't believe Trunks had just said he would be happier without his parents around. Basically, he was saying he wanted them to swap places; that he would be the one without parents and on his own like he was, and would be fine with it. He just didn't get this kid; he had everything anyone could ever want and didn't even bother to realize it.

"Trunks, you really think you would be better off without your parents?" he asked in a hoarse voice, eyeing his teenage self skeptically.

Trunks nodded and then crossed his arms over his chest. He had not a trace of penitence in his eyes. "Yeah, all they do is yell and scream at me. And now that Mom is pregnant she's even more annoying than before. My life would be more peaceful without them, especially without a stupid new brother or sister that's just gonna get more attention than me."

Mirai Trunks stared back at him with a look of disbelief. Did this kid even realize how terrible he sounded? Before he could give him a scolding, the doorbell rang, startling them.

"That's the pizza," Trunks said curtly, darting towards the front door to avoid the lecture he was sure he was about to receive from his future self. He didn't need yet another person yelling at him about everything he was doing wrong.

"Has he always been this way?" Mirai Trunks asked Goten quietly as he sat down across from him.

Goten sighed. "Yeah, sort of. He's always been a bit of a meanie, but now it's waaay worse. You're way nicer than him, and you're not a 'socially-awkward freak' like he says you are!"

"Thanks. . .I guess. . ."

_Next time I can get Trunks alone, I'm having that heart-to-heart with him. For my parents' sake, if anything. . ._

* * *

Meanwhile, off in the distant mountaintops, Vegeta and Goku stood opposite of each other, both panting from their recent sparring match. Vegeta didn't want to admit it, but Goku had only gotten stronger since the battle with Bills, and at times it was slightly difficult to keep up. Not that the Prince outwardly showed it; he'd be damned if that would ever happen. He managed to hold his own against Goku to the best of his abilities, and now he saw what he would need to work on with his own training. He had to make sure he was in perfect shape incase another enemy attacked soon. Though he hoped it wouldn't, mainly since he now had a pregnant wife to look after.

Goku flashed his fellow Saiyan a smile and rolled his neck around, letting it make numerous cracking and popping sounds. "Hey, you did pretty good just then! I'm impressed!"

Vegeta wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and rolled his eyes. "Spare me the compliments, Kakarot."

Goku just smiled back and sank down to the ground to stretch out his sore legs. "So how have you and Bulma been lately?"

The prince paused before answering. Kakarot always had to pester him personal questions, and it was slightly annoying. Even though he wasn't as uptight as he used to be, he still wasn't comfortable talking openly about certain things. Especially with him former rival. "Things between me and her are well. Better than they've ever been," was his simple reply, his eyes looking off into the distance at a nearby tree.

"Is she handling this pregnancy better this time around? You know, with morning sickness and all that?" Goku asked as he got back up to his feet.

"I wouldn't know, really. I wasn't exactly around for her first pregnancy," he said mutely, his eyes hollow. He felt incredibly guilty, that the first time around he had left her to fend for herself without a single care about her or her pregnancy. Now, he couldn't imagine putting her through that. He actually had a conscience now that would eat away at him if he ever did such a thing. Bulma deserved his full attention this time around, and he did his best to give it to her.

Goku gave him a weary smile, his dark eyes displaying hidden understanding. "I basically did the same thing when Chi-Chi was pregnant with Goten. I left her alone for seven years to raise him, so don't beat yourself up over it."

"Hmph," was Vegeta's only response. He levitated up into the air and prepared to fly home.

"Hey, Vegeta, before you go can I ask you something?"

Vegeta froze halfway in the air and shifted around to look at Goku. The uncharacteristic seriousness in the younger Saiyan's voice intrigued him. "Alright, but make it quick," Vegeta scoffed, landing back down onto the ground.

"When Trunks was talking about how future Bulma was murdered I got a really bad feeling about the whole thing; something just didn't add up. Don't you think the same thing?"

Vegeta let out a puff of air and knitted his eyebrows together. At first when Mirai Trunks had told them the news, he did get a sick feeling about the whole thing and thought something was off about the circumstances of future Bulma's death. But he didn't want to think about it too much because the thought of Bulma dead was too much for him to stomach, so he didn't dwell too much on it. Plus, he knew how honest and open Mirai Trunks was about things, so if there really was more to the story he knew he would have told them when he first arrived. Kakarot was reading too much into things.

"I agree, but I don't think Trunks would leave us all in the dark about it. He's too honorable for that."

"Yeah, but. . .I just can't shake this feeling I get about it."

Vegeta sighed and shook his head. "You're overthinking this, Kakarot. I assure you that if Trunks knew more about it he would tell us. I think I know my son better than you."

Goku's usual cheery smile returned to his face, the tenseness leaving his body. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Vegeta. But if you do find something out let me know, okay?"

"Fine. But I assure you there's nothing more to the story."

"I'll take your word for it."

And with that, they flew off in separate directions, leaving both of them to wonder who was really right.

* * *

Later that evening, Mirai Trunks tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Babysitting Goten and Trunks earlier really was a hassle; he had never seen two teenage boys with that much energy. They had forced him to play video games with them, and he was surprisingly good at them, knocking Trunks out of first place, which did not sit well with his younger self. He also could tell that Trunks was getting annoyed at what an interest Goten showed in him. The mini-Goku was just fascinated by the fact that his best friend had a future self and that he came from such a broken and bleak future. Mirai Trunks admitted that he really did like Goten; he was just as jolly as Goku and Gohan. And he didn't like how Trunks bossed the poor kid around and treated him more like a side kick than a best friend.

He sighed when he couldn't go back to sleep and arose from his bed to head down to the kitchen. When he couldn't sleep he always liked to make warm milk, and right now that seemed to be the solution. He made his way down the stairs to his destination, flipping on the light switch and heading over to the cabinet to gather the materials needed.

"What the hell are you doing?"

As he placed the tea kettle on the stove, he turned around to see Trunks staring back at him with his usual scowl.  _He's always so warm and welcoming._ Mirai Trunks managed up a smile, "I was just making some warm milk. I always make some when I can't sleep."

Trunks' eye's widened, his mouth gaping open slightly. "That's weird. . .I always do the same thing. That's why I'm up."

"Well, technically we are the same person right?"

"Hmph, I guess."

Mirai Trunks let out an inner sigh of relief. He didn't seem to be in  _that_ bad of a mood tonight, so maybe now would be the right time to have that conversation with him about his poor behavior. "I'll make you some as well if you would like," he offered politely, pulling out a second cup from the cabinet above him.

Trunks simply nodded and sat down at the table, resting his cheek against his palm. He looked rather troubled about something, judging from the unsettling look on his face.

"Is everything okay?" Mirai Trunks asked as he poured the milk into their cups.

Trunks flicked a vexed look his way, his mouth twitching into a solid line. "Why the hell do you care?"

"Well, like I said, technically we are the same person so if something is bothering you, then it bothers me as well," Mirai Trunks responded, sitting down next to Trunks and sliding his glass of milk towards him.

"You're the problem," he mumbled as he reached for his cup and took a liberal sip, despite the hot temperature of it.

Mirai Trunks raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Me? How could I cause you any problems?"

"Because everyone thinks you're perfect. My parents like you more than they've ever liked me, and my Dad actually speaks highly of you.  _ **My**_ Dad. All he does is call me a little shit. And now Goten wants to be your best friend because he told me before he left today that you're nicer to him than I've ever been."

"I don't know what to say. . ."

"You don't have to say anything," Trunks grumbled, peering at him over his cup with dull eyes. It just wasn't fair. This was  _ **his**_  timeline.  _ **His**_ parents.  _ **His**_  best friend. And all of a sudden his older self from the future comes and they can't stop talking about him. He just didn't get it; he was so quiet and weird. What did they all see in him?

"I will be honest with you, personality wise we are completely different. You are much harsher towards others than I could ever be. Sometimes you even take it too far and really hurt others with your words."

Trunks scoffed and wiped milk from his upper lip with his sleeve. "At least I'm honest to others and don't sugarcoat things. My Dad taught me to be that way when I was a kid. And now that I'm thirteen I don't let anyone tell me what to do. I make my own rules."

"When I was your age, I was fighting for my life. I lived in fear every damn day, not knowing if it would be my last," Mirai Trunks whispered, clutching his cup tightly in his hands. "I lost my mentor and best friend, Gohan, to two pure evil beings, and that's when I turned Super Saiyan for the first time. A rage I had never known took over me and I finally, after years of trying, ascended. But even that wasn't enough to kill them. It would be another few years before I would kill them for good." He paused and looked over at his younger self, who he was surprised to see listening intently. "Say, how old were you when you first turned Super Saiyan?"

"I was eight," he answered with a sly smirk, knowing he had beaten his older self at something.

"Eight?" Mirai Trunks mouthed, totally in awe. What a feat for a young kid. "You must have really had something happen that made you go into a rage to achieve it."

"Nah," Trunks snipped, tossing his bangs out of his eyes. "I was just training in the gravity room with my Dad, and I did it easily. No big deal. Goten learned how to do it when he was seven, so he's the youngest Super Saiyan ever."

_He did it that easily?! Just like that?! The legendary transformation that requires unleashing so much pain and rage, this brat did it that easily, feeling no suffering or anything at all?! Unbelievable!_

"You know," Trunks said as he took his last sip of milk. "You seem like you've had a shitty life. I doubt you've ever even been laid."

Mirai Trunks' eyebrow twitched, and he could feel a vein pop in his forehead.  _What the. . .ugh, he's such a little punk! I can't even have a decent conversation without him acting like a total asshole._ Once he regained his composure, he looked Trunks dead in the eye and glowered. He would no longer be mister nice guy. "You're right, well about my life being 'shitty'; the other part is none of your fucking business. My whole life has been a never-ending nightmare. I grew up without my Dad, and he was one of the first to die against the Androids. Like I said I lost Gohan, the only friend I ever had, to two killing machines that totally fucked up my timeline. And when I came to your timeline to fight against the Androids and Cell, I was killed! That's right; I've already died before and it happened in  _this_  timeline. I was brought back, obviously, but still! And after the battle was over I went back into my own timeline and finally killed 17 and 18 once and for all, and later on Cell as well. After all that, things got better in my timeline, but not even that would last because my mother, the one person that had always been there for me, was murdered. So, yes, I have had a hard life, unlike you that's had it easy and never had to face the death and destruction that I did; that's why you're so shallow and spoiled. It makes me sick, actually."

Trunks eyed him all the while he spoke, his frown smoothing out. After absorbing all that information, he spoke in a low voice. "No, my life has never been as hard as yours. But that doesn't mean I haven't faced my own share of shit to deal with. Five years ago, when Majin Buu came to Earth, my Dad died, so I know what it's like to lose your father, even though I got mine back. And at one point the fate of the whole world rested on mine and Goten's shoulders to beat Majin Buu, and we had to learn how to do the Fusion Dance, which is totally embarrassing looking, in order to beat him. And guess what? We didn't beat him! And he killed all our friends and family. Me and Goten lost everyone we cared about; the only person we had was Piccolo, and all he did was bitch at us about everything. And hey, here's another similarity we share: I died, too! Buu blew up the Earth, and I died along with it. So, yeah, maybe I didn't live such an emo life like you, but I have had to push through things, so don't sit there and judge me like that!"

After staying silent for a long moment, Mirai Trunks smiled genuinely at Trunks, something he never imagined he would do. "Well, it seems we have more in common than I thought after all."

"Don't get too excited. You're still not as cool as me," Trunks smirked, his eyes appearing softer than they had in a long while.

"Just think: one day you will be me and not cool like I am, so enjoy it while it last," Mirai Trunks teased as he pushed himself up from the table.

"Pfff, whatever."

Mirai Trunks swore that he saw a brief smile from Trunks, which made him grin in turn. The two returned to their rooms, and he was able to finally sleep soundly, feeling like he had accomplished something. Trunks was indeed a little shit, but there was more to him than he cared to show. And he was determined to help him see just how privileged his life was, and that he really needed to change how he treated people. It would take a while, a long, long while, but there was hope for the teenager. By the time he left this timeline, his past counterpart would be a new man.

He was sure of it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to update faster; like I said I know I'm slow. Life has been rather crazy and at times depressing lately, but writing this story really helps me feel better so I will keep going. Even if just one of you appreciates it, that means the world to me. So I will have this updated ASAP, and thank you for all the love and support!


	6. The Truth Comes Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mirai Trunks' secret is finally revealed. But how will everyone take the news?

Three months had passed since Mirai Trunks' arrival, and things were rather peaceful in the Briefs' household. Trunks, while still cocky and rude at times, had toned down his attitude a notch since his conversation with Mirai Trunks in the kitchen that night. Mirai Trunks himself was happily adjusting to life with his past-timeline family, though at times he still seemed on edge about something, yet never discussed it. Bulma was now three months pregnant, and her father had greatly lessened her workload in the lab, so she had a lot of free time on her hands. And for someone as type-A as herself, that didn't sit too well with her.

"I wish Dad would at least let me do something," Bulma grumbled as she carelessly flipped through the channels with the remote as she laid in bed, sitting upright with her back propped up against her pillow behind her. Since Dr. Briefs had cut down on her workload, she spent most of her days watching tv in bed, which bored her to no end. Being pregnant wasn't fun, but she knew it was a true blessing. Plus, she didn't experience nearly as much morning sickness as she did with Trunks' pregnancy. And having Vegeta around this time around to help her out made it even better to boot.

_Speaking of. . ._

The bedroom door opened, and in came Vegeta with a glass of water in one hand, and a plate of her odd food craving of brownies and ketchup in the other.

_I got him whipped!_

"Thanks, hunky man," she giggled with a wide grin as she took the water and plate from him.

"Hmph," Vegeta said with a roll of his eyes, a part of himself slightly perturbed with how easily he gave into her request of bringing her food. It was the exact opposite of how he would have been with her first pregnancy. Hell, he wasn't even around the majority of the time back then to do such a thing.

He turned around to leave, but Bulma's free hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Hey, Vegeta, will you sit in here with me? It's awful boring staying up here all by myself and you're not too bad to look at," she said seductively with a wink. She knew he couldn't resist her.

Vegeta gave her a skeptical look, his eyebrows rising slightly. He internally battled with himself for a long moment then sighed heavily in defeat. He got into bed beside her and propped his pillow up behind him in the same fashion as she did. "You're in luck I've finished most of my training for the day and have nothing better to do," he said smugly, cracking his knuckles before resting his hands behind his head.

"You know you wanna be with me, don't even try to deny it," she said with another wink. Being pregnant certainly put her in an incredibly flirty mood.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and simply smirked, not even bothering to make a smart ass comment , which pleased her. Bulma turned her attention to the plate in front of her, and took the brownie and dipped it in the ketchup, slightly antsy at what it would taste like. This pregnancy had even crazier cravings than her last one; just last night she had eaten pizza smeared with peanut butter and jelly, which was quite nasty tasting, as one would assume. This kid inside her would be one strange eater, that was for sure.

Vegeta looked utterly repulsed as she finally bit into her food. "I don't know how you can eat that. I nearly gagged bringing that up here to you," he snarled, shaking his head in disgust.

"Eh, it's not too bad, actually. But it's what the baby wants, so I have to eat it. And thanks for bringing it to me; you're actually helpful this time around," she half-smiled as she took a liberal sip of water.

Vegeta looked back at her with a rather troubled look. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Huh?"

That was a phrase she rarely ever heard from the prince. He never admitted fault to anything.

"When you were pregnant with Trunks, I was noticeably absent most of the time. . .I wasn't even there for his birth. And when I was around I was cold and aloof towards you. I don't know how you could ever forgive me for that," he said rather quietly, almost to himself. He truly felt guilty about it; he couldn't believe how selfish and cruel he used to be. He had a woman that had shown him nothing but love and respect, and even bore his child, yet all he did was treat her like dirt for years.

Bulma sat her food down on her nightstand next to her and placed one of her hands on top of his. "You're nothing like that now. Yeah, you can still be a pain the ass sometimes, but you've proven yourself since then to me. You actually make me feel loved and taken care of now. I always knew you could always be this way, even back then. It took a long while to get to this point, but hey, we made it through, so you have no reason to beat yourself up over it."

Vegeta took the hand resting on his and brought it up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles softly. "You still never deserved to go through any of the things I put you through back then. And I hope to make it up to you."

Bulma's eyes widened in pleasant surprise. The most selfish asshole in the whole world was actually admitting fault for past mistakes and wanted to make it up to her. He certainly had come a long way indeed. All the difficulty they went through in the past just made this moment even sweeter. The Saiyan Prince truly was a changed man.

"Trust me, you have," she whispered with a wide grin, stroking his cheek softly.

He grinned back and pulled her into him, kissing her softly on the lips. Bulma moaned pleasurably and deepened the kiss, feeling completely content in that moment. Oh, how she loved this man with every fiber of her being, and was elated to be carrying his child. Everything was truly falling into place, and nothing would change that, of that she was certain.

Little did she know she was about to be in for one rude awakening.

* * *

Later that night, Mirai Trunks lied in bed, with nothing but dark memories plaguing his mind. Memories that he knew would never stop haunting him. . .

*flashback*

_**He had never had such a sickening feeling in his gut. And he felt it was about his mother. He flew to Capsule Corp. as fast as he could, ignoring the sense of whiplash he was experiencing. Once he landed, he approached the house and found the door to be unlocked. He then took a deep breath and stepped inside.** _

" _ **Mother?!" he called out to her.**_

_**Silence.** _

_**He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, everything was still in place. As he approached the living room he noticed a pool of red liquid at his feet that stuck to the bottom of his shoe like glue.** _

_**It was blood. And lots of it.** _

_**His heart was pounding in his ears as he walked further into the room and was horrified at what he saw, the hairs on the back of his neck sticking straight up.** _

_**His mother was lying in a pool of her own blood. Her body was completely lifeless and pale, and her eyes were still opened. He almost passed out at the sight of her, the stench and bloodiness of her corpse before him being too much to take in. His mother, the only person that he had in the world was now gone, and he never even got to tell her goodbye.** _

_**Who would do this?** _

" _ **Ah, Trunks so sorry you had to walk in on this."**_

_**He turned around and saw a man with a black hood over his head lurking in the shadows across the room. "Who the fuck are you and why did you do this?!" Trunks shouted, glaring venomously at the man.** _

" _ **Who I am right now doesn't matter much. But I know from your mother that you have a time machine. And I would like to use that time machine to travel back in the past. You see, in this timeline you're the only Saiyan around, but I learned from your mother there are more in the past. Bring them to me," he spoke in a low tone, his voice like nails on a chalkboard.**_

" _ **Why should I? You fucking killed my mother, you motherfucking asshole!"**_

" _ **I killed her because that's what she wanted."**_

" _ **What?"**_

" _ **I knew all about the relationship she had with Vegeta, and I promised her I would help her see him again-in exchange for information about the Saiyans in another timeline. And she told me just what I was looking for," he chuckled, his smug grin being the only thing visible beneath his hood.**_

" _ **Then why did you kill her if she told you what you wanted?!"**_

" _ **Because the only way she could see Vegeta again was by death. She's in a much better place now so you should be thanking me."**_

_**Trunks had tears streaming down his cheeks. This just couldn't be. "You are one sick fuck! Tell me who the fuck you are now before I slit your damn throat and send you on a one-way ticket to hell!"** _

_**The man threw his head back and laughed as Trunks pulled his sword out. "Haha! That measly sword will do you no good, you little shit."** _

_**Trunks lunged forward and prepared to slice him in half just like he did with Frieza. But to his complete shock, the man stopped the sword in its tracks with his finger, leaving Trunks to have a sense of déjà vu just liked when Goku did the same thing the first time he had met him.** _

_**"I'll be generous to you, since you are an orphan now," the man said calmly, stepping back from Trunks. "You gather up all the Saiyans from the past and bring them here to me. Especially Vegeta. I won't even give you a deadline of when to bring them back. I'll wait an eternity if I must for this."** _

_**"What do you want with my father?" Trunks questioned, his scowl deepening.** _

_**"You'll see. I look forward to seeing you again, Trunks," he smirked with a casual wave of his gloved hand.** _

" _ **You'll be dead the next time we meet," Trunks said with eyes like daggers, clenching his jaw so tightly he could have cracked a tooth.**_

" _ **Oh, no, Trunks. I assure you that won't happen. Well, I'll leave you to clean up this mess," he laughed wickedly, and kicked at Bulma's dead body, turning her over on her side.**_

_**And with that he disappeared in the blink of an eye.** _

_**Trunks crumpled to the floor next to his mother's body and unabashedly screamed out, tears freely falling from his azure eyes. Why did tragedy have to follow him everywhere he went? Why did nothing good ever last?** _

_**And just who was this asshole that had done this? Maybe traveling back to the past would help after all. Maybe his father would know what to do. It wouldn't hurt to try; plus, the past timeline was always so much more peaceful and pleasant. It would be welcoming.** _

_**He took one last look at his mother and made a silent vow her death would be avenged. He would make sure of it. This bastard would not get away this.** _

*end of flashback*

He felt tears well up everytime he thought of that day. It was so painful to think of. Nightmares haunted him every night for three months, and he didn't know what to do. He knew he would have to tell them all sooner or later, but he didn't want to interfere with Bulma's pregnancy. The asshole did say he wasn't giving him a deadline of when to return after all. He often thought he would never even have to say anything about the whole situation; being here in the past with the time machine assured there was no way the bad guy could come and find him. He had no way of time travel, and besides, things were so peaceful here. Why the hell would he want to go back to all that misery and pain in his own timeline? He just didn't want to, and they were all safe this way.

He was about to finally dose off to sleep when a blood curling scream startled him so badly that he shot straight up in the bed.

_Holy shit!_

He ran out of his room and to where the sound came from-Trunks' room.

"Trunks, what's wrong?!" he yelped as he raced to the teenager's bedside, where Trunks was sitting up with his hands buried in his face.

Bulma and Vegeta then appeared in the room seconds later, equally as concerned as Mirai Trunks.

"Trunks, sweetie, what's wrong?" Bulma said franticly as she kneeled down beside Trunks' bed next to Mirai Trunks, while Vegeta stood close by with a stern expression on his face.

Trunks lifted his face up from his hands and looked over at them as he wiped sweat from his brow. He looked genuinely afraid. "I had the worst nightmare ever, but it was so real! Mom, this guy killed you! And then he told me I had to bring all the Saiyans to him or else. He wanted to see dad especially, but I had no idea who this creep was!"

_Oh, shit._

Bulma's face was drained of color, while Vegeta looked completely baffled. Neither of them knew what to say.

_How is it possible he could have that dream?! The only explanation is that since we are technically the same person we have some sort of telepathy and he picked up on my thoughts regarding that day._

"But," Trunks continued in a hoarse tone, "in the dream it wasn't me the bad guy was talking to, it was HIM," he pointed his index finger at his future counterpart.

Bulma and Vegeta turned to him with looks of puzzlement. But Vegeta's look quickly morphed into one that was as dark as a storm cloud, his eyes narrowing gravely. "Wait a second. Is THIS what really happened the day of your mother's death. Did you leave all this information out?"

Trunks hung his head low, not wanting to look any of them in the eye. But Vegeta pulled him by his shirt collar and gave him the most vicious glare he had ever given anyone. "Tell us the fucking truth."

"Y-yes, that is what happened. And when I first came back here I was ready to tell you guys, but after hearing that Mom was pregnant. . .I just couldn't say it. I didn't think it was the right time. He didn't give me a deadline of when to come back, and I felt so much safer here. I thought it wouldn't matter."

_So Kakarot was right about all this after all._

"I see why you didn't want to tell us, son, but this wasn't a minor incident. Your mother was killed, and the man who did it obviously had a vendetta against Saiyans. And if whoever this piece of shit is wants to see me, he'll get his fucking wish."

"And I'll come to! He did say he wants _all_  Saiyans," Trunks chimed in, excited about the possibility of a new challenge.

Everyone then looked at Bulma, who remained silent the whole time.

"Mother, I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you here alone pregnant. That's truly why I didn't want to say anything," Mirai Trunks said with slumped shoulders as he turned to her.

Bulma smiled at her future son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trunks, don't worry about it. You've done so much for this timeline, and it's our turn to help you. Whoever this jerk-off is needs to be put in his place. And trust me, I'll be fine. I have my parents here, and Chi-Chi wouldn't hesitate to help me if I needed something."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

But deep down she wasn't sure. She loved Trunks with all her heart and soul, but her whole life was flipped upside down all of a sudden. Her husband and son were about to leave her to face some crazed killer they knew nothing about. There was so much that could happen. She knew Vegeta and Trunks could handle themselves, but still, she couldn't help but worry.

It was all too much to process at the moment. She could only pray this battle of sorts wouldn't take too long. . .

For her unborn baby's sake if anything.


	7. To the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Saiyans finally head to the future! But what evil awaits them there?! Find out!

Bulma was wide awake later that night after discovering the truth of why Mirai Trunks was really here, her stomach tied in knots, and she knew it had nothing to do with the baby. She stared at the clock on her dresser, the red digits displaying that it was one o’clock in the morning. She only had ten hours left with Vegeta and both of her sons before they left for the future, and her mind couldn’t stop running in a million different directions. She was only three months pregnant and not totally feeble, but she didn’t want to be without Vegeta. She knew that when he and both Trunks and Mirai Trunks left she wouldn’t be totally alone; she still had her parents and Chi-Chi to help her with whatever she would need. But it was so nice having Vegeta around this time, especially with how supportive he was. If he left, she felt like it would be the same as when she was left alone pregnant with Trunks, though she knew that wasn’t true, and that this time around it was a completely different circumstance. But still, her fears kept gnawing at her and nothing could help her shake the feeling.

“Bulma, what’s wrong?”                        

The sound of Vegeta’s rough, yet concerned voice made her heart leap into her throat. She turned onto her side and faced him, his eyes questioning as he studied her. He always knew when something was bothering her, even if she didn’t articulate it. It was almost as if he had some weird psychic abilities when it came to her. She cleared her throat and shook her head the best she could while laying down. “Nothing’s wrong, Vegeta. I’m just having a hard time sleeping.”

“Woman, I’ve known you almost twenty years now; I can sense when something is bothering you. Now, tell me what’s keeping you up,” he ordered with a scowl, determined to get an answer out of her.

She exhaled deeply, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She knew he wouldn’t stop pestering her about it until she fessed up, though she was grateful for his gruff concern. “I guess. . .I don’t know. . .I’m just worried about you leaving tomorrow. We have no idea what this weirdo guy from the future that killed my future self wants so I guess that’s what I’m worried about. I just don’t want something to happen to you.”

Vegeta sighed in return and pulled her up closer to him so that she was pressed up against his chest. He glided a hand through her silky hair as he rested his chin on top of her head, placing a soft kiss upon it. “I assure you that nothing will happen to me, or either of our sons. Or Kakarot and his brats for that matter. I don’t know who the fuck this bastard is that wants to fight all the Saiyans, but I will put him in his place. And I will come back as soon as I can. You have my word.”

A smile crept onto her face as he squeezed her tighter to him, and she buried her face into his chest, soaking up his warmth. “I really do want you to help Trunks; he’s done so much for this timeline, and it’s our turn to return the favor. I know you’ll stay safe. . .I’ll just miss you, that’s all.”

He chuckled low in his throat and kissed her head again, massaging her back gently. “No more worrying about this, alright?”

“Mhm,” she mumbled and closed her eyes, attempting to drift off to sleep.

“I said no more worrying. I didn’t say anything about going to sleep,” he purred into her ear, his hand sliding up her thigh, his callous fingertips tickling her skin.

Her body temperature felt like it rose 100 degrees, and she involuntarily let out a whimper as his hand began to tug at the strap of her lacy panties. They hadn’t had sex as much as they used to since her belly had started to get slightly bigger, and that was mainly based on her own insecurity of her weight gain, not that Vegeta ever seemed to mind. “Vegeta, I don’t know if we should. . .” she trailed off as he swiftly positioned himself on top of her, a devilish smirk planted firmly on his handsome face.

“Hush, woman,” he growled as he nipped at her jawbone, making her release a low moan, an old familiar sensation of warmth rising up between her thighs.

“Yeah, but. . .”

“If you’re going to start that bullshit about how you’re ‘fat’ now or whatever, I don’t want to hear it. Obviously I still find you physically appealing or I wouldn’t be showing you attention like this, correct?”

“I guess so. . .”

“Well, I _know_ so, so hush now!”

She then giggled and pulled him in for a kiss. He may not say things in the nicest way, but he really did try to give her compliments in his own way. He found her attractive, even when she had a few extra pounds on her and that eased her nerves a great deal. Besides, the extra weight she was carrying was well worth it, and she couldn’t wait until their baby finally entered the world. It would for sure be one of the happiest days of her life. She would hold onto that hope through this period she was about to go through without Vegeta, and press on until he returned. Which she mentally assured herself that he would over and over again.

“I love you, Vegeta,” she whispered softly against his lips.

He didn’t say anything, but she could feel his lips curve up into a smile against hers, and she knew that was his own way of saying he felt the same. She gripped onto him tighter and deepened the kiss, eager to make the most of this night, not knowing how long it would be before they would be reunited after tomorrow.

* * *

 

“Are you all SURE you will be okay to go?” Chi-Chi asked as she gripped onto her husband’s muscular arm, her mind clouded with fear of all the different scenarios that could go wrong.

Goku cracked his neck and peered down at his anxious wife with his usual calm smile, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You worry too much, Chi-Chi! All of us going together will be just fine! Right guys?!”

He looked back at his fellow Saiyans, who nodded in response. Vegeta had immediately informed Goku of the news of the new threat from the future timeline early the next morning, as well as to Gohan and Goten. They had all agreed to go to the future and help; Goku and Gohan wanted to pay Mirai Trunks back for all he had done for them against the Androids and Cell, and Goten was just eager to see what this mysterious future timeline would be like.

“Don’t get too beat up, alright you guys?” Videl joked playfully with a grin, tossing her glossy hair over her shoulder.

Gohan looked guiltily at his wife and lowered his head. “I’m so sorry I have to leave you while you’re six months pregnant. Hopefully we won’t be gone too long.”

Videl rubbed her large belly and rolled her eyes. “Gohan, you worry more than a woman sometimes. I can take care of myself.”

“And besides,” Chi-Chi chimed in, patting her daughter-in-law’s stomach, “I’m here to take care of her and my future little grandbaby. And of course I will help take care of Bulma, too, who for starters needs to start wearing maternity clothes instead of her usual skimpy attire!”

Bulma, who was standing close to Vegeta and both of her sons, shot a glare at her best friend and held up her middle finger, feeling as though there was nothing wrong with the slightly snug pink dress she had on. It would be a cold day in hell before she ever put on a maternity outfit. Such a thought made her gag; she was way too fashionable and vein for something like that.

Mirai Trunks simply chuckled and turned to his fellow Saiyans, a determined smile on his face. “So are you guys ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Goku exclaimed, an eager grin on his face. He wasn’t necessarily worried about the threat this new enemy possessed; he felt that all of them teamed up together should be able to take this guy down. Six Super Saiyans against one guy should be unstoppable.

Vegeta then turned to Bulma and looked down at her with a small smirk. “Remember what I said about not worrying, alright?”

Bulma nodded in response and smiled. She knew Vegeta wasn’t a fan of public displays of affection, so she resisted the urge to hug him, but to her surprise Vegeta leaned in and rested his forehead against hers, brushing his nose against hers. Her breath suddenly escaped her, shocked at his gesture. Shocked, but pleased nonetheless. He had never really done anything like this in front of the others before.

“I will return to you as soon as I can,” he murmured to where only she could she could hear, his voice softer than usual.

She nodded again, her smile deepening and she quickly kissed his cheek, knowing he would probably discipline her for such a thing, but she didn’t care in that moment. To her amusement, a faint blush spread across his cheeks, and he spun around on his heels before the others could see. She could only giggle at his response, since he so rarely blushed.

“Let’s get this show on the road, no more sentimental crap. It’s not like we’re all going off to war or something,” Trunks snapped, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Right, right,” Mirai Trunks said on a yawn, tossing out his capsule that held the time machine. Once it appeared, he glanced over his shoulder at Bulma and smiled. “I promise I’ll take care of everyone, Mom.”

“I know you will,” she beamed with a thumbs up. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said, trying not to get too emotional, knowing he would never hear those own words from his own mother ever again until he met her in the afterlife.

Bulma then looked over at her own son and smiled, ignoring the dirty look he was giving her.  “And I love you, too, my little Trunks. Please take care of yourself.”

“Hmph,” was his only reply at first, crossing his arms over his chest. He then felt Vegeta’s glare directed at him, and he straightened up slightly and cleared his throat. “I’ll be careful, Mom. Promise.”

Vegeta’s glare smoothed out and he walked past him to enter the time machine, where Trunks followed behind along with the Son family.

“It’s cramped in here,” Goten complained as he was squished between his best friend and Vegeta, who glared down at the mini Goku in repulsion.

“Yeah, I agree with dipshit, this is really uncomfortable,” Trunks groaned as he tried to nudge Goten out of his personal space.

“You two relax,” Mirai Trunks said calmly over his shoulder. “Because once I press this button—“

……….

“We will be in my timeline!” he finished his sentence as in the blink of an eye they vanished and appeared in his timeline a mere few seconds later.

“Woah. . .” Goten and Trunks murmured in unison as they peered out the glass window at the new scenery.

The future was a drastic contrast from the past timeline. It was a lot less noisy and crowded, the only sounds being that of birds chirping. The buildings around were mostly in shambles, and most of the houses around looked abandoned. It was not a pretty site. They all then stepped out of the time machine one by one and looked around, taking in the gloomy atmosphere of the place. Vegeta especially was staggered by how bleak the future looked. He had no idea how his future son was able to be so humble and positive despite all these circumstances; it was truly a feat in itself, and he respected his son even more after personally witnessing the harsh environment he had grown up in.

“So, Trunks, what are we supposed to do now?” Gohan asked as he looked around the city.

“I don’t really know,” Mirai Trunks shrugged, his bangs falling into his eyes. “He didn’t really tell me where to meet him or anything. I just assumed he’d come find me again.”

“You assumed? So basically you’re saying you wasted our time since you don’t even know where this madman is!” Trunks scoffed at his older self, his azure eyes narrowing together.

Mirai Trunks sighed heavily and massaged the back of his neck. “I mean, what the hell was I supposed to do? He just told me to bring all the remaining Saiyans from the past timeline ; he didn’t give me a deadline or tell me where to meet him.”

As Trunks opened his mouth to respond, a loud swooshing noise sounded from behind them and before they could react, Goten was hit by a ki blast, sending him sailing a good fifty feet and plummeting face-first into the ground.

His fellow Saiyans all gasped and their eyes widened as they looked behind them to see a hooded figure. “That has to be the guy you described, Trunks, I mean he’s wearing a hood and everything!” Goku exclaimed as he kneeled down to help his youngest son to his feet.

“Well, he’s a bully,” Goten seethed as he spit dirt out of his mouth.

“I’m not a ‘he’!”

“What?!”

And before their very eyes, the figure removed their hood that revealed a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and bright, piercing green eyes. Her lips formed into an evil smirk as she gazed upon the six Saiyans before her. “I’m so glad you’re all here; my master will be most pleased that you complied with his request, Trunks.”

Mirai Trunks gave her a puzzled look and tilted his head. “So your ‘master’ is the one that killed my mother and wanted me to bring everyone here?”

“Precisely,” she answered in a low, monotone voice. “And I will take you to see him. . .that is if you guys can defeat  me first. . .”


	8. Mystery Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The man that killed Future Bulma finally reveals himself, and his reasoning for wanting to gather all of the Saiyans.

* * *

_Previously, on the last episode of Dragonball Z (I'm so happy to say that hehe). . ._

_. . ._

_And before their very eyes, the figure removed their hood that revealed a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and bright, piercing green eyes. Her lips formed into an evil smirk as she gazed upon the six Saiyans before her. "I'm so glad you're all here; my master will be most pleased that you complied with his request, Trunks."_

_Mirai Trunks gave her a puzzled look and tilted his head. "So your 'master' is the one that killed my mother and wanted me to bring everyone here?"_

" _Precisely," she answered in a low, monotone voice. "And I will take you to see him. . .that is if you guys can defeat me first. . ."_

* * *

"Why don't you tell us who you are first!" Mirai Trunks responded back, taking a step closer to the girl, glaring her up and down.

The girl flipped her glossy blonde hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "I can tell you are the type that will keep annoying the shit out of me for an answer, so fine! My name is Rika, and I have been asked to come gather all you lousy Saiyans for my master. He can't wait for his revenge."

"Revenge? We've never done anything to him, so what's his deal?" Mirai Trunks asked, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Oh, yes, yes you all have. Especially one of you in particular," she shot her glare over at Vegeta, who glared back.

"Why the fuck are you looking at me?" Vegeta questioned with a scowl.

"You'll know soon enough," she said with a smug expression, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now, which one of you wants to fight me first?"

"You're a girl! I can't hit a girl!" Goten said exasperatedly while shaking his head.

"Well, I can!" Trunks screeched and flew towards Rika, punching her as hard as he could in the stomach, making her cough up a decent amount of blood. She crouched down to the ground and glowered at the teenager.

"That's not bad, but you'll have to do better than that,' she grinned and sat back up, stealthily pulling the same move Trunks just had and sent him flying in the air, landing right near where Goten was.

"She's an evil bitch!" Trunks murmured to his best friend as he wiped blood from the corners of his mouth.

"No kidding," Goten replied and helped his best friend up to his feet.

Vegeta was getting ready to attack, wanting to make her suffer for what she had just done to his son, until a soft voice called out for him to stop. He looked to see yet another hooded figure appear before them all, making them all freeze in place.

"That's enough of this. Rika, you know you'll get yourself killed if the rest of them attack you, especially the two older ones since they're the strongest of the bunch," the male said calmly to her, placing a hand on her raised fist. "We need to get them to master, because he informed me that he's not going to wait around much longer."

"Alright, alright! Goddammit, I was just trying to have a little fun with 'em. At least I got to beat up the two little guys over there," she smirked wickedly at Goten and Trunks, to which the two responded to her with a raised middle finger and their tongues sticking out.

"And who the heck are you?" Goku asked the male, his voice uncharacteristically incensed.

"My name is Suko, and I'm Rika's twin brother," he said as he removed his hood, revealing the same bright green eyes as his sister had and golden hair that hung around his shoulders in layers. "Please excuse my sister's rudeness; she loves to fight with any given opportunity. But she has wasted valuable time, so I would appreciate cooperation from all of you, so that we can head over to see my master. He's just dying to see you all."

"He'll be dead pretty soon for all the shit he's pulled!" Mirai Trunks spat under his breath. He looked back at all his fellow Saiyans, who all nodded in response as they took off into the air behind the twins.

"I don't really know what to expect from this 'master' guy," Goku murmured to Vegeta as he flew up beside him.

Vegeta looked at his fellow full-blooded Saiyan out of the corner of his eyes, his mouth twitched into a hard line. "I agree, but all of us together can beat that bastard. There's no way anyone can take down six Super Saiyans at once."

"That's what you think," Suko's voice floated back to them.

"Ah, man." Gohan sighed, staring dejectedly down at the ground beneath them. "This stinks. My wife is at home pregnant and I'm stuck here having to fight some mad man that has the potential to destroy all of us. Just great."

"My wife is pregnant, too, dipshit, but you don't see me getting all whiney about it like you. That kind of attitude won't solve anything," Vegeta glared over his shoulder at his former rival's eldest son.

"What Dad is trying to say," Mirai Trunks broke in placidly, "is that we can't all just get negative about this situation. Yeah, it does suck, but the six of us have all been through worse before, and I know we can go through this as well."

"I second that!" Goku agreed, his usual chirpy expression returning to his face.

"Yeah, we're gonna kick this loser's ass!" Trunks joined in, while Goten nodded in agreement.

"You all hush back there!" Rika snapped as a large dome-shaped building came into view perched on top of a mountain. She and Suko landed to the ground simultaneously, and the Saiyans followed suit.

"What is up with every villain always living in some weird-ass house on top of a mountain? Does your master think he's Mojo Jojo or something?" Trunks quipped, laughing loudly at his own joke. He really did crack himself up sometimes.

"Man, I wish it was Mojo Jojo we were fighting. At least he's funny and fails everytime," Goten sighed.

"Both of you kids need to shut up! You two are annoying," Rika frowned at the demi-Saiyans as she pressed a button on the side door, and it slowly slid opened.

They entered the building, which was dark and dreary, the only source of light coming from various oval-shaped windows on the walls that allowed rays of sunlight to shine through. Multiple chandeliers also hung from the ceiling, swaying unnaturally back and forth. It was all a rather eerie set up that made all the Saiyans anxious, even Vegeta.

"Okay, we're all gonna die!" Goten suddenly blurted out as they began to walk down the halls, staring up at the ceiling with trepidation in his eyes, his hands beginning to shake at his sides. "Anytime there are chandeliers in a creepy house, it can only mean death! Does anybody remember that time on Pokémon where Ash Ketchum went into that haunted house and the chandelier fell on him and Pikachu, and they died and had to play with the ghost Pokémon?! I mean they DIED!"

"They only died for, like, twenty minutes in that episode, dumbass, and then they came back to life at the end. Some Pokémon master you are," Trunks responded matter-of-factly, tossing his bangs out of his eyes.

"I think this is the third time I've said this, but both of you little shits SHUT UP!" Rika roared as they approached a door at the end of the hallway. "I can't wait until my master slits your throats and—"

"Rika!" Suko shouted at his sister, his green eyes burning a hole into her identical ones. He then turned to the six Saiyans and smiled civilly. "Forgive my sister, like I said earlier, she has no manners and doesn't know when to hold her tongue. But I know that all of you that are married all have aggressive wives so I'm sure that you are used to this kind of intolerable behavior."

"How do you know what any of our wives are like?" Goku quizzed with a tilt of his head.

Suko merely smiled and brushed imaginary dirt off of his shoulder. "I do my research. . .but anyway, back to the matter at hand. Behind this door is where my master is waiting for all of you. I wish you the best of luck. You'll need it."

He opened the door that revealed a small, grey room behind it, adorned with red furniture and portraits of hooded figures hanging on the wall. "This guy must be a real fucking creep to have a room set up like this. Who wants to look at pictures of dudes with hoods on?" Trunks shook his head as he and Goten approached the wall of pictures.

"I do, actually."

They spun around to see yet another hooded figure emerge from behind a chair, startling the Saiyans. "I'm so happy you all came; I've waited so long for this glorious day."

Mirai Trunks came to the forefront of the group, his eyes shooting daggers at the hooded man. He had never looked as angry as he did in that moment, barely able to control his rage towards the man that had murdered his mother. "Alright, you sick fuck, it took me three months, but I finally have everyone here. So tell us what the fuck you want with all of us!"

The hooded man only chuckled as he advanced towards the group of Saiyans. Once he stood a good two feet away from them, he slowly removed his hood. He turned out to be a strikingly pale older man, with mid-length slicked-back black hair and bold blue eyes. A devilish smirk was planted on his face as each of the Saiyans silently studied him.

"I am so happy that I can finally reveal my identity. My name is Izo, and I truly believe it is my destiny to terminate the Saiyan race once and for all. I hope I'm not being too blunt saying that."

"But what did any of us ever do to you to make you hate us so much?" Gohan inquired.

Izo simply pointed a finger at Vegeta. "Ask him."

Everyone turned to Vegeta, who looked just as puzzled as they were. "How the fuck am I supposed to know?! I've never even seen you before in my life!"

Izo stepped closer to Vegeta, his lips curving up into a smirk as he looked down at the Saiyan prince. "I knew you wouldn't know who I am. I mean, why would a royal prick of a prince know who a peasant like myself is? You ruined my life and don't even know it."

Vegeta raised his eyebrows questioningly, having absolutely no clue or even the faintest of memories as to how he could know this man. He knew that he had done many evil things in his past, things that he was no longer proud of, but he really was drawing a blank as to what he could have done to this man in particular.

"No response, your highness? I thought so," Izo answered when Vegeta remained silent "I know that you now have a family and are expecting a new baby, and that warms my cold heart. It must be a wonderful feeling, right? I'm sure you would hate for something to happen to them, just like I had something happen to the woman I love right before my very eyes."

"What are you talking about?! Stop pussyfooting around all this and tell us what you have against Saiyans, or else I'll make you talk!" Vegeta demanded as he began to glow a faint blue, threatening to power up.

"Calm yourself, your highness, no need to get so worked up. And anyway, the only reason I hate Saiyans is because of you. You see. . .the reason I hate you so much is because you took everything I ever loved from me. When I was in my twenties, I fell in love with a beautiful woman. She was so strong, stronger than anyone I had ever met before, both mentally and physically. She told me that she had arrived on my planet because she was 'on a mission'. She was only on my planet for a week, but I fell so hard for her, and she did the same for me. But there was a problem: she was two months pregnant with another man's baby. And not just pregnant with any normal baby. This baby was the heir to the throne of a planet called Vegeta. Does that planet ring a bell? I thought so. Anyway, she told me that the King she bore this child with was an asshole and that she had no feelings for him, but she was chosen to bare his offspring because of her high power level, hoping that the unborn child would inherit that strength to help him achieve the goal of becoming a Super Saiyan, since that's all you Saiyans give a shit about. After she spent a week on my planet she left, after promising she would return to my planet soon. She never did"

"So. . .you were in love with my mother?" Vegeta said slowly. "And you hold a grudge against me because of that?"

"Yeah, what a wiener. Get over it, there's plenty of fish in the sea," Trunks snipped.

Izo's calm demeanor faded and his eyes began to narrow. threateningly. "I don't hold a grudge against you because of that. I hold it against you because your father killed her."

"What?!" the Saiyans all gasped.

"Yes, that's right. King Vegeta killed the woman that bore his son and had no regrets about it."

"How do you even know that? I was told that my mother voluntarily left planet Vegeta!" Vegeta barked.

"I see that you Saiyans are both liars and murders. So noble. And I know this to be true because I witnessed her death. Three years had passed, and she hadn't returned to me. So I found my way to your disgusting planet and found your mother. We were about to leave when your father stopped us. He didn't want her associating with 'low-level trash' as he nicely put it, but she refused. And once she refused he shot a blast at both of us, screaming that no one will defy him. Your mother didn't survive the blast and the only reason I did was because she took the bigger brunt of it trying to protect me. Ever since that god-awful day my only mission has been to massacre all of you. And since your father and home planet are no longer around, you and your family and friends will have to suffer the consequences of his actions."

"That is the stupidest reason to come after all of us!" Mirai Trunks spat, standing closer to his father, who he could tell was about to blow a gasket. "Even if my grandfather really did do that, there's no reason to take it out on my father or all of us! It shows what a pathetic life you have to sit around and plan revenge on all of us!"

Izo ran a hand through his greasy hair and shrugged carelessly. "It brings me great pleasure to see all of you suffer. And I plan to bring even more suffering to all of you." He then turned to Vegeta with an evil grin. "I killed this timeline's Bulma, but I know that in the other timeline, Bulma is alive and well and pregnant. I would just hate for something to happen to her and that unborn baby."

Vegeta on impulse lunged forward and punched Izo as hard as he could in the face, sending him crashing backwards into the wall. "If you even as much as lay a hand on her or my offspring I will rip you apart limb from limb, and I'll do it slowly, too to make your death all that more painful."

Izo slowly got to his feet and rubbed his face against his palms. "Well, I didn't know that Saiyans could actually care about their women; I thought you were all just a bunch of brutes that couldn't give a flying shit about your wives outside of the bedroom. Plus, I must say you certainly are a lot stronger than I initially thought. I guess I have my work cut out for me. I need to regroup, but don't worry I'll be back."

And in the blink of an eye he vanished without a trace.

"Wait! Where did he go?!" Goku said frantically, looking all around the room.

"This is what he did the first time I met him! He just disappears without any warning," Mirai Trunks said in a hoarse voice, thinking back to that painful day of his first encounter with Izo.

"He's strategizing," Suko's cool voice answered from behind them. "He will return when he decides to."

"What a pussy," Trunks murmured.

"And a coward," his older counterpart added.

"So can I fight them now and not hold back my real power?" Rika asked her brother in a low whisper.

Suko nodded. "And I will join you this time."

"Haha, this will be fun," she said with a lick of her lips. "You Saiyans get ready, because we're about pulverize each of you, one by one."

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in the other timeline. . ._

"I hope they're all doing alright in the future. Vegeta told me not to worry, but dammit, I can't help it!" Bulma groaned, resting her chin in her palms as she sat at Chi-Chi's kitchen table.

Chi-Chi glanced over her shoulder at her best friend as she put a roast into the oven. "He's right you know, about worrying that is. Stress is not good for you or the baby!"

"This would be a great time for some cigarettes or wine to calm my nerves. But I can't have either until after the baby is born," she sighed heavily, patting her growing stomach.

"I don't know how you stay so youthful looking with all these vices of yours," Chi-Chi said with a shake of her head, setting the timer on the stove for the roast to cook.

Bulma chuckled and leaned back in her seat. "I honestly don't do either of them that much. I really only smoke if I'm stressed, and I only drink wine on special occasions. . .and after dinner. . .and when I feel like it. . .but I'm not a wino I swear!"

The younger woman sat down next to her and laughed quietly. "Sure, sure you keep telling yourself that, missy."

"I honestly don't know if I will do much of either anymore once this baby comes. I feel like I need to be much more responsible this time around than I was with Trunks. My whole mentality is completely different now," Bulma said thoughtfully, staring up at the ceiling.

"I was that way with Goten," Chi-Chi responded softly. "I was much different with him than I ever was with Gohan. I forced Gohan to do his studies and would always scream and yell about Goku wanting him to fight. But, I don't know, with Goten I was much more relaxed. I didn't want to make the same mistakes twice and be so uptight about everything."

"That's how I feel I'll be this time around. And I think Vegeta will be much different now, too. That's why I'm just so excited about this pregnancy, to have a chance to do things better than the first time when me and Vegeta were hardly even together. She's going to have a truly great life and grow up in a loving home with both of her parents and big brother."

"SHE?" Chi-Chi repeated with wide eyes. "You already know the sex of the baby?!"

Bulma shook her head, a smile tugging up at the corners of her lips. "No, but I have a feeling I'm going to have a girl. Call it woman's intuition, which has never failed me before."

Chi-Chi squealed with glee, clasping her hands together. "Oh, how wonderful would it be if you have a little girl! She could be your mini-me!"

"Yeah, she's going to be a little fashionista like her mommy!" Bulma giggled. "And I would love to see how Vegeta would be with a little girl. It would be a real sight to see."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think that Vegeta would be really sweet with a daughter. I bet she would have that stubborn prince wrapped around her finger," Chi-Chi laughed.

Such a thought made Bulma grin ear to ear. It warmed her heart to think of how caring Vegeta would be this time around with their newborn child, whether it be a boy or a girl. Thoughts like those are what made her nerves settle about everything.  _Vegeta_ **will** _return to me, and nothing can stop that from happening._ She had already lost him once before, and she vowed to never let that happen again. Not even some freakazoid guy from the future could mess that up. Vegeta was strong enough to make it through whatever was going on, and she knew he would make it through for her.

He had to. . .he just had to.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! I vowed to never make OCs (idk I just never thought I would be creative enough for that) but hopefully they weren't too terrible, right? *sweat drops* anyway, I am about to be bombarded with a shitload of research papers at school (I have two 10 paged papers due Monday and Tuesday alone) so bear with me if it takes me a while to update. I am also in the process of writing yet another long Vegebul oneshot that takes place around the early Buu saga so you guys have that to look forward to ^-^ and many of you have asked how I'm doing with my breakup (it's been six months now) and my-ex (who I was practically engaged to and almost bought an apartment with) already has a new girlfriend who was my friend. . .yeah. . .lol but bitterness and resentment is not good so I'm okay with it. I like a really sweet guy as of now (who watches DBZ and drinks wine with me lol) so I'm hoping for the best. Thank you guys not only for your support with this story, but for all of you caring about me personally. It makes me so happy. Love you guys!


	9. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why are all of the Saiyans suddenly in fear? Find out now!

Last time:

_**"So can I fight them now and not hold back my real power?" Rika asked her brother in a low whisper.** _

_**Suko nodded. "And I will join you this time."** _

_**"Haha, this will be fun," she said with a lick of her lips. "You Saiyans get ready, because we're about pulverize each of you, one by one."** _

* * *

"I highly doubt that you two clowns have what it takes to defeat six Super Saiyans at once," Vegeta scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest in his usual stance.

"Yeah, it seems like maybe you guys are just being a little cocky," Goku agreed.

Suko and Rika looked at each other shrewdly and smirked arrogantly, their eyes lighting up. "Nah, I don't think we're being cocky," Rika said, her smirk deepening. She then scanned around the room and her eyes settled on Mirai Trunks, who was staring back at her with a calculating look.

She then pointed her index finger at him and stepped in his direction. "You there. I think you're sexy as hell. Why don't you be the one to fight me and brother? If I let you live then you and I can get together. If you know what I mean."

_Great. Why do freaky girls always hit on me?_

"There's not a chance in hell I would ever get with you, you ugly witch." He then drew out his sword and was preparing to use it as she now stood an inch away from him, the odor of her perfume tickling his nose.

Before she could respond, Goten and Trunks stepped in front of Mirai Trunks with looks of mirth on their faces. "How would you feel about me and Goten being the ones to take you down?" Trunks proposed, his glare meeting Rika's.

"Didn't you two brats learn your lesson earlier when I beat the shit out of both of you before?" she said with a flip of her shiny golden hair.

"I guess you could say me and Trunks work better together than we do apart," Goten chuckled, giving his best friend a knowing look.

The two half-Saiyans gave each other a nod and then began to pose with their index fingers sticking out.

"FUUUUUU. . ."

" _Why are Goten and Trunks doing ballet movies right now. . ._ " Mirai Trunks thought to himself in confusion.

". . .sion. . .HAAAAA!"

A blinding ray of white light took over the room and everyone closed their eyes. Once the light disappeared, everyone saw Gotenks before them with his usual cocky smirk on his face. "Hey, blonde bitch! You think you can take me down now?"

Mirai Trunks stared at the boy in front of him with a twitch of his eye, completely baffled as to what he was witnessing. The kid had the voice of Goten and Trunks mixed together, and he had the facial features of Vegeta, as well as hair that was a mix of black and purple. "Maybe I'm missing something, but, uh, what the hell just happened?" Mirai Trunks asked the three other Saiyans around him.

"Oh, well, Trunks and Goten just fused together using a technique I taught them a few years ago called the Fusion Dance. They're even stronger now together than they could ever hope to be apart!" Goku grinned, looking at Gotenks with a sense of pride.

"I see. . ." Mirai Trunks nodded, eager to see what Gotenks was capable of.

Rika merely laughed at the transformation, placing her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter. "So you think I'm suddenly going to be afraid of you two weasels now that you joined as one? If anything I'm even more annoyed by the piercing sound of your combined voices."

"Oh, don't worry," Gotenks snickered as he placed his hands on his hips. "You'll be shitting your pants in a second after you see what I'm about to do."

" _He must get the cockiness from Trunks, that's for sure. I can't imagine Goten ever talking like that to anyone_." Mirai Trunks mused to himself as he watched Gotenks hunch over a little as he began to glow a golden hue.

Gotenks let out a scream so loud that the ceiling began to crack above them, and the ground started to tremble. Mirai Trunks originally thought Gotenks was just going Super Saiyan, but his eyes widened as Gotenks' hair began to grow so long in length that it touched the floor.  _What the hell. . .what kind of Super Saiyan form is that?!_

Goku saw Mirai Trunks' look of puzzlement and smiled. "You just witnessed the transformation of a Super Saiyan 3!"

"Super Saiyan. . .3?" Mirai Trunks mumbled under his breath, gawking upon Gotenks in complete awe, having no clue that such a level of Super Saiyan could exist.

"Dad and Gotenks are the only ones strong enough to get to that level," Gohan added, and Mirai Trunks caught Vegeta rolling his eyes at that remark.

"So now I'm supposed to be scared of you because your hair is the same color and length as mine? Oh, please, if anything now I just want to trade styling tips," Rika mocked.

"Laugh now, but you'll be crying later. If you're even alive to do so."

"We'll see about that," she screeched as she ran forward and aimed to punch Gotenks in the face, but she was surprised to see how easily he dodged. She didn't give up and sent a string of punches his way, to which he dodged every single one of them without breaking a sweat.

"Is that really all you've got? Because I'm getting bored and don't want to waste my time playing games with a girl?" Gotenks scorned and landed a blow to her face, which caused her to cry out in pain.

Before she even had time to blink, Gotenks lunged forward and kicked her with so much force that she went sailing backwards across the room and straight into a concrete wall, which left Suko gasping in fear.

"Rika! Are you alright?" he hollered as he knelt down next to his sister.

Rika blinked rapidly a few times, the room spinning as she felt a painful throbbing sensation gnawing at the back of her head. She then gasped as she looked down and saw blood pouring down from the back of her head and onto her lap. She really had underestimated the little brat. Who would have thought that two little kids fused together could be so strong? She tried to stand up, but instantly sunk back down to the floor, pain shooting although out her body.

"Damn. . .he hit me harder than I thought," she whispered to her brother, panting slightly as even the slightest movement sent jolts of pain throughout her body.

Suko clenched his jaw tightly, his glare directed at the Saiyans across the room. He got to his feet and walked towards Gotenks, who was still smirking in satisfaction.

"How dare you harm my sister like that!" Suko seethed, his usual calm demeanor escaping him completely.

Gotenks let out a yawn, and he was impassive with the current situation, especially since that girl had been so unbelievably weak. "She asked for. So it's her own fault and I couldn't care less about it. Hopefully she won't have anything to bitch about for a while. . .or ever if she doesn't die from that head wound."

Suko then dive forward and landed a punch in Gotenks' face, but to his astonishment the young Saiyan didn't even blink. Suko felt all the color leave his face as he moved back slightly, his hand throbbing in pain, feeling like he had just punched a brick wall.

"Aw, what's the matter, dickhead? Was that supposed to hurt, because I assure you I barely felt that," Gotenks laughed menacingly, cracking his knuckles.

"I can't believe how strong he is!" Mirai Trunks exclaimed. He knew Goten and Trunks were strong for their age, but he had no idea that the two of them fused together could be so powerful.

"Yeah! Those two make me proud," Goku responded cheerfully. He then glanced over at Vegeta who was standing a few feet away from him. "Hey, Vegeta, don't you remember when we had to fuse together to stop Majin Buu? I bet we were just as strong as Gotenks is now!"

Vegeta shuddered and shook his head in repulsion. "Please, Kakarot. Do NOT bring that up. That is a memory I choose to not think about. But at least we didn't have to perform that idiotic dance like they have to."

Mirai Trunks gave a small smile at his father's response. He could only imagine what Goku and Vegeta would be like fused together.

"Hey, peanut gallery!" Gotenks said over his shoulder as he glanced back at his fellow Saiyans. "I'll really give you guys something to talk about after this next move."

He then turned his attention back to Suko, who was slowly backing away from him. "You're gonna be crying after this next attack," Gotenks taunted as he lifted his index finger to the sky.

Suko's eyes grew impossibly wide and he gulped as he watched Gotenks' form a large gold ring above his head.

"I call this my Galactic Donut attack!"

"Galactic. . .donut. . .?" Mirai Trunks sweat dropped. "They couldn't come up with a better name?"

"What do you expect? The boy has half the brain of Kakarot's brat. There's not much going on up there except for thoughts of food," Vegeta snipped.

Goku ignored Vegeta's remark and shook his head with a smile. "Well, the name may be a bit ridiculous, but Gotenks sure is something. It's amazing at how powerful he is!"

Just as Gotenks had the circular ring around Suko's body and was preparing to squeeze him to death, Izo suddenly appeared before them, an eerie smile on his face.

"There will be no need for you to kill my assistant; I am still in need of him."

"Why should I listen to you?" Gotenks snarled, still letting the ring encircle Suko, ready to strangle him at any second.

Izo smirked. "You should listen to me because I have the power to kill you."

"Yeah, yeah that's what your two pussies said and I already almost killed one of them," Gotenks said with agitation.

Izo stepped forward and crossed his arms. "Release Suko and fight me instead. You want a real challenge don't you?"

Gotenks mused over his proposal for a second, his eyes giving nothing away as to what he was thinking. He then slowly released his hold on Suko, who collapsed onto the ground panting. Once he had caught his breath, he then ran back over to his sister, who at that point was lying unconscious on the floor, blood still trickling down her body and forming a puddle underneath her on the floor. "Please, Rika, you have to pull through," he whispered to his sister, easing up a bit as he was relieved to find she still had a pulse.

She opened her green eyes, the room coming into focus gradually. "I will try to hold on a little longer," she whispered hoarsely, barely able to speak.

Izo stared at his two assistants with hollow eyes, not seeming to care that one of them was on the brink of death. His attention then shifted to Gotenks and he smirked. "Now, see if you can even cause pain upon me. I assure you you won't."

Gotenks mirrored his smirk and his palm began to glow. "We'll see about that."

As Gotenks was preparing to shoot a ki blast he suddenly felt an invisible force attack him head on and he was flung back into the wall, making all four Saiyans watching the fight gasp in shock. Gotenks tried to move his hand and prepare an attack but he was unable to move, leaving him to panic. "Hey! What's going on?!"

Izo blurred in front of Gotenks and chuckled wickedly, slapping the boy across the face. "You see, I have the power to stop you in your tracks, literally. I can hold you immobile for as long as I want to. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"There has to be something I can do!" Gotenks scowled, attempting to wiggle around to no avail. "You can't beat me like this!"

"Oh, yes I can. And I will."

Izo lifted up one of his long, lean legs and kicked Gotenks so hard that he coughed up blood.

"I won't. . .let. . .you. . .win. . ."

Before Gotenks could say another word, he fell to the ground and collapsed, and because the thirty minute time limit for fusion was up, Goten and Trunks went back to their respective bodies, both battered and bruised.

"What the heck just happened? Gotenks nearly mopped the floor with the other two...but Izo took him out with one hit. He's a lot stronger than we thought and we need to be on guard around him," Gohan cautioned as he helped his baby brother to his feet, helping him wipe blood off the corner of his mouth.

"That kick. . .that was so painful," Goten whimpered, gripping onto his stomach.

"Yeah, he looks like a wuss but he's really strong. . .just damn," Trunks agreed with his best friend, slowly stretching out his limbs.

Izo glanced over at the group of Saiyans and laughed menacingly at the perturbed looks on their faces. That was one thing he especially hated about Saiyans; they were always so cocky until they came upon someone stronger than them, and he was certain he could kill every one of them in an instant.

"I do plan on killing all of you, but there is one other person I would like to have here as well."

"Who else are you talking about?" Goku questioned, an uncharacteristic somber expression on his face, his fists clenching up at his side.

"You all know her. And one of you knows her especially well," his gaze landing upon Vegeta.

A sickening feeling brewed in the pit of Vegeta's stomach, his vision becoming blurry as he shook with fury. "If you are talking about who I think you are I've already told you that I will kill without a second thought if you go anywhere near her!"

"Oh, yes I am talking about your precious Bulma. It's a shame she'll have to die for all the pain you've caused me. I will have no problem murdering her and that unborn offspring of yours. I will be happy to see their blood spill out everywhere, actually."

Vegeta went into a blind rage and lashed out at Izo, punching and kicking him all over. But Vegeta was shocked to see that none of his hits did any damage of any kind, not even landing a scratch on his pale skin. "How was I able to knock the shit out of you before and I now I can barely make you flinch?"

"Because I was holding back before, I wanted you to think you would have a chance against me, to lure you into a false sense of security. But now my true power is on display, and I can tell that you're quivering in fear."

"I don't quiver in fear about anyone," Vegeta remarked, his eyes narrowing.

Izo merely chuckled and kicked Vegeta just like he had done with Gotenks, making him land against the wall.

"Dad!" Trunks cried out as he weakly made his way over to his father, kneeling down beside him. He had a scary sense of déjà vu from that time when he and Goten had helped saved him just minutes before he decided to sacrifice himself to Majin Buu. He hated seeing his father hurt, and if he wasn't in such pain himself he would attack Izo in an instant. That bastard was pure evil, especially now that he was threatening to kill his mother.

Goku's eyes widened as he looked back at the Saiyan Prince. Was this Izo guy really that strong that he could just wipe out all these Saiyans without lifting a finger? It just didn't make sense to him.

"Dad," Gohan whispered to Goku. "I have no idea what we're gonna do. He's taking us all out so easily."

Goku gave Izo a calculating look and shook his head. "No, I'm not going to give up that easily. There has to be a way we can stop him."

"I admire your positivity as always, Goku, but I am afraid Gohan might be right," Mirai Trunks joined, flicking one of his lavender bangs out of his eye. "I knew the moment I met this creep that he would be one of the strongest people I've ever faced. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be as strong as the Androids I faced in my timeline, but it seems I've been proven wrong."

"Shut up! All of you!" Izo barked. "I hate listening to all of your stupid voices!"

Mirai Trunks then gasped as Izo appeared in front of him, his hands placed behind his back. "Ah, Trunks. I'll need your assistance once again. If you could be so kind as to go back in time yet again and bring your past-timeline mother here to me. I would greatly appreciate it," he said with smug graciousness.

"You must be out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to bring my other mother here and let you kill her too! I will never let that happen!"

Izo shrugged. "Well, I thought that asking nicely might work, but it looks like I'll have to use force to get my way. Nice guys really do finish last."

The same brute force that had knocked Gotenks and Vegeta back into the wall was used against Gohan and Goku who were rushing to Mirai Trunks' defense, and landed near Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten, leaving Mirai Trunks standing on his own. "None of your friends can help you now."

Mirai Trunks looked over his shoulder at his Saiyan comrades in disbelief. What had they all gotten themselves into? He wished he never would have brought them into this mess; he felt incredibly guilty, and now his other mother could have to suffer because of him.

"I will NOT let you harm my mother in the past timeline. You already killed my own mother, and I will not let it happen again!" Mirai Trunks spat in Izo's face, his glare piercing into his soul.

"Of course I know you're not gonna let me do anything. That's why I'm gonna do this."

Izo lifted a hand and knocked Mirai Trunks as hard as he could onto the ground, the half-Saiyan losing consciousness as his face hit the concrete floor. Izo smirked in satisfaction as Mirai Trunks was out cold and began to go through his pockets in search of the time machine capsule. Once he found it he gripped onto it tightly and looked across the room at Suko, who was still hunched down beside Rika.

"Suko come with me. We have a mission to take care of."

Suko looked up, eyeing the time machine capsule in Izo's hand. "We're going back to the past?"

"Precisely," Izo said with a wicked grin, slicking a hand through his greasy dark hair.

Suko glanced down at his sister, who was struggling to stay conscious. "I can't just leave Rika here. She needs medical attention."

"Either I kill both you and your sister at this very second, or you can leave your sister there and come with me. She was a worthless fighter anyway. I only kept her around for 'other' reasons if you know what I mean."

Suko gave him a look of disgust and was prepared to stay with his sister until she weakly lifted a hand up onto his shoulder. "Brother, please go. I promise I will be fine. Just do as he says."

After a few minutes of hesitation he gave her a nod and slowly got to his feet and approached his master. "Wise choice," Izo said in a low voice as he opened up the capsule, and in a flash the time machine appeared.

Vegeta opened his eyes in time to see Izo and Suko prepare to get in the time machine, and fear took over his body, an emotion he never allowed himself to feel. He couldn't let that bastard to get to Bulma. He would do whatever he could to stop him, even though he felt so weak just then. He mustard up all the strength he could to get to his feet, which Izo caught sight of out of the corner of his eye.

"Ah, Vegeta. I will give you credit; you are rather resilient. But you have nothing to worry about. I will bring Bulma back here alive, so that you can see her one last time before I skin her alive," Izo smiled evilly.

Vegeta launched a ki blast at him, but Izo merely reflected it and tossed it back to Vegeta, which knocked him off his feet, causing him to land on the ground with a hard thud.

Izo and Suko adjusted themselves into the time machine and after pressing a few buttons disappeared out of sight, leaving Vegeta to watch horrified. His stomach felt queasy at what could possibly happen. He couldn't lose her; he would rather die himself than experience life without her. And now it was all his fault for not stopping that bastard.

"BULMA!"

* * *

Bulma was having a peaceful night's sleep until a nauseating feeling suddenly ate away at her heart, making her sit up in a cold sweat. What could that feeling possibly mean? She looked at the alarm clock on her night stand and saw that it was only ten o'clock, a little earlier than she thought it was. She turned on her side and looked at the empty spot next to her, reaching out to nothing. It had been a couple of days since Vegeta and Trunks left, and she had to admit it was incredibly lonely without both of them. She couldn't even remember a time when the house had been as quiet as it was now; it just didn't feel right.

She then scooted over and rested her head on Vegeta's pillow, feeling relaxed as she inhaled his scent which remained there. This was the first time since the battle with Buu that she had spent the night without him, and honestly it was killing her. The pregnancy hormones didn't help her emotional state, either. All she could do was linger back to one particular memory that kept replaying in her mind, one that had taken place just a few days after the fight with Buu.

*flashback*

_Bulma was sitting up in bed, her eyes settling on the bedroom door as she eagerly anticipated Vegeta's arrival. She gave a side glance at the alarm clock near her on the nightstand and fidgeted slightly, knowing that he should be coming up the stairs any second. Things had changed since the battle with Buu, but one thing that remained the same was Vegeta training in the Gravity Room into the wee hours of the morning. She didn't mind it, though; she accepted training would be a regular part of his life many years ago. But one thing had been bothering her the past couple of days, and she just couldn't shake it._

_She knew that Vegeta was strong; he was one of the strongest guys in the whole universe. But losing him a few days ago had destroyed her like nothing else ever had. Or ever would. Hearing the words that he was dead and may never come back made her feel faint just thinking about it. And she was ecstatic that everything had worked itself out and that he was able to come back to life again; she vowed to never take another day with him for granted. Yet, the fear that she could lose him again kept tugging at her heart, and she just couldn't stop thinking about. The chances of ever facing another enemy as powerful as Majin Buu seemed very slim, but they all had thought the same thing with Cell, too. The world was just too unpredictable._

_The sound of the door creaking opened startled her out of her thoughts, and the hallway light filled the dark room with light as Vegeta appeared before her. She temporarily dismissed her nerve-racking thoughts as she observed the way Vegeta's bare chest glistened with sweat, and she felt her lower body began to tingle. Even after all these years she could still get worked up just looking at his sexy self. It didn't hurt that their sex life had been especially active the last few days as well; in fact, that was the first thing they had done when they were alone after the fight with Buu. Their passion for each other had really reached a new high after that whole ordeal, especially since at a point in time they were both uncertain if they would ever get the chance to see each other ever again._

_Vegeta noticed her staring and smirked as he shut the door behind him. He knew what that gaze of hers meant so he eagerly slid into bed beside her and began to kiss her neck softly, which made her release a low moan that she was unable to suppress. The simplest kiss or touch could drive her insane like nothing else ever could. She wrapped her arms around him as he continued his way down her body with his lips, her heart rate increasing with every gentle caress of his lips. She couldn't imagine ever living her life again without this. Without_ **him** _. The thoughts that were perturbing her earlier came rushing back to the forefront of her mind, of the fear that she could be without him again._

_He stopped what he was doing when he felt her began to tremble under him and he looked up confused as he saw tears stream down her cheeks. He was completely taken aback with her actions. "Woman, what the hell has gotten you so upset?"_

_Bulma looked up at him and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffling softly. "I'm just scared."_

" _Scared?" he repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Scared of what?"_

" _Scared of losing you again. . ." she whispered so throatily that it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up._

_He processed her words slowly, staring down at her as tiny droplets of tears continued to spill out of her sapphire eyes. He knew that this had been bothering, how could it not? It had been bothering him as well, because he really believed that when he sacrificed himself against Majin Buu that he would never get to see her again. It made him ill just even imagining the thought of ever being away from her again. All those years that he had spent with her prior to the battle with Buu he had taken for granted; he didn't even realize back then what a gift it was to have her. He was disgusted with himself at the way he used to treat her. He still wasn't the best husband around or anything, but he never again wanted to make her feel like he didn't care about her, because that was the farthest thing from the truth._

_Bulma's heart pounded like a drum as Vegeta lifted his head up and delicately kissed away her tears, the first time he had ever done something like that before. "Woman. . .Bulma, you never need to worry about that. I promise you I'm not going anywhere, and I mean that. Nothing will take me away."_

_At first she wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not, but by the warm feeling of his steel-like arms beneath her fingertips she knew this wasn't just something her brain was concocting as she slept. Vegeta had never said anything like that to her before. Ever. She had always known he had cared about her, but this was the first time he had ever given her a verbal confirmation. She felt as though she was on cloud nine as she gripped onto him tighter, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "I love you, Vegeta. . .I love you so much."_

_That was the first time in their entire relationship that she hadn't been afraid to tell him those three words. She had said it before to him in the past a few times, and he would simply just give her a blank look and not say a word. His reaction used to make her hesitant to ever say it, but this time she knew would be different. She knew he felt the exact same way._

_Vegeta knew how he would react to her saying those words in the past; he would just leave her hanging and walk off. But it was mainly contributed to the fact that she was the first person in his life that had ever said those words to him before, and he didn't know what to say. He even thought that she was slightly crazy to have those kinds of strong feelings for someone as cold and heartless as he was. He even used to contemplate if he even felt the same about her; love was an emotion he never wanted to let into his life, so he just didn't even bother giving the subject matter much thought. However, in the present moment his answer was clear, and he knew that accepting his feelings for her was no longer a weakness to him._

_He looked into her eyes and gave her a real, genuine smile, the first she had ever seen from him. He lifted his hand up and pushed her bangs back out of her eyes before leaning down and kissing her avidly, making her dizzy with pleasure. She knew that Vegeta used physical actions instead of verbally saying what he felt, so she knew that was his answer that he felt the same._

_She sighed blissfully against his lips, a sweep of emotions filling her heart. She knew that no matter what would happen in the future, nothing would take Vegeta away again, and all those fears she had before were now gone for good. . ._

*end of flashback*

She smiled at the memory, and felt the tension in her body ease up as she snuggled deeper into her pillow. She knew Vegeta and her son would come back to her safe and sound, and that there was no need to doubt him after he made that promise those few years ago. Everything would be just fine.

As she was about to drift off to sleep, the sound of footsteps from outside the door made her jump up, her eyes wide as she stared across the room. Could it be who she thought it was? "Vegeta!"

But to her alarm, it was not Vegeta, and she felt her heart stop beating in her chest as two men she had never seen before approached her. "W-who. . . who the hell are you?"

"Why, Mrs. Briefs, me and my assistant out of the kindness of our hearts are here to take you to see your husband one last time," Izo sneered as he loomed over her.

"O-one last time. . .what the hell is that supposed to mean?" she screeched, sweat dripping down her face as her mind began to play all kinds of horrific scenarios that could have happened to Vegeta.

Izo placed his hand on her growing stomach, to which she jerked back and slapped him on impulse. Izo merely chuckled at her actions. "Well. . .you see, I'm being gracious to Vegeta so that he can see you one final time. . .before I kill you."

_. . .Kill me. . .?_


	10. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Vegeta are finally reunited, but danger still lurks.

Bulma stared back at the two men in front of her in dread, her heartbeat ringing in her ears. They were going to kill her? She couldn't let that happen, and she knew without a shred of doubt Vegeta wouldn't let it happen, either. "I'm not afraid of you," Bulma declared in a low voice.

Izo merely chuckled and once again pressed a hand to Bulma's round belly. "You may say that now, but I promise you that if you cross me you  _will_  learn to fear me."

"I show  _no one_  fear," Bulma countered, her sapphire eyes burning with ire.

"You definitely are Vegeta's wife," Izo chuckled. "Only someone equally as stubborn as he is could last in a marriage with that brute. Too bad you won't have much longer with him."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Bulma shouted at the top of her lungs, making Izo and Suko wince painfully at the high octave her voice took on. "There is nothing that you can do that will take me away from Vegeta!"

"That's funny because I have already practically wiped out all the Saiyans that dared to challenge me; the only reason they aren't dead yet is because I didn't use all my strength against them. I want to keep them around a while longer and torture them just a little bit more. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see them all in so much pain, especially that prick of a Prince."

Bulma gasped, tiny droplets of tears running down her cheeks. "Vegeta. . ."

"And if you really do care about him or your unborn daughter then you will come with us now. I don't want to waste any more time than I already have," Izo glared, tossing his hair over his shoulders.

Bulma's heart stopped. "D-did you just say my unborn  _daughter_?"

Izo gave her a curt nod. "Yes, you heard me right. Besides being able to detect the ki of an unborn child, I can also detect their gender, and it appears that you are having a female offspring."

Bulma couldn't help but smile. She was having a girl! It was a dream come true, and she couldn't wait until the day she would be able to hold her daughter in her arms! But. . .this wasn't exactly a moment to get too happy, she thought to herself as she looked up at Izo and Suko. First, she had to deal with these freaks. And then she would have to make sure Vegeta was safe, too. This lunatic kept threatening to kill her, but she knew Vegeta wouldn't let anything happen to her. He would protect her from anything; he had already proved that countless times before.

"Alright, I'll come with you. . ."

Izo and Suko looked at each other in surprise, but sneered nonetheless.

"I'm so glad you're willing to cooperate, my dear. This will make things a lot easier on you," Izo smirked and then turned to Suko. "Get the time machine prepared."

Suko nodded and did as he was told, opening up the time machine capsule and then entered inside it. Izo turned to Bulma, placing a hand on her shoulder, to which she immediately shrugged off. "You won't regret your decision, I promise," he said, his voice oozing with smarminess.

Bulma followed him into the time machine, rubbing her stomach all the while. "I hope not. . ."

* * *

"He can't kill mom. He CAN'T!" Trunks yelled as he pounded at the concrete wall, tears streaming down his face, the first time in years that he had shed any. Since he had turned 13, he had tried to act aloof towards his mother at all times, but his real feelings were now rising to the surface, and the thought of that creep hurting his mother left him feeling helpless, knowing he wasn't strong enough to stop Izo. Goten reached out and patted his friend on the back, trying to calm him down, but Trunks just shoved him away.

Vegeta massaged his sore muscles and glanced over at his son, surprised to see him openly showing such anguish. He knew this was a moment where he should try and console his son, but he was never the best with words or showing comfort to those in times of distress. Bulma obviously was the better of the two at soothing their son whenever he was distraught. "Son. . .crying will do no one any good in this situation," was all he could manage to say.

Trunks looked at his father out of the corner of his eyes, his vision obscured by the onslaught of tears. "I'm not as strong as you, Dad. I've been a piece of shit to Mom for so long and now she could die and so could my baby sibling."

"I feel like this is all my fault. . .I should have never asked you guys to come here. . ." Mirai Trunks said forlornly, wiping blood off of the side of his face.

"It wouldn't have mattered. . .Izo still would have found a way without you," Rika faintly spoke, making all the Saiyans turn around to look at her on the ground across the room. She sat up and gripped the back of her head, which had finally ceased bleeding.

"Do you think he will really kill my mom like he says?" Trunks asked, wiping his wet cheeks off with his palms.

Rika looked at the teenager and saw the pain in his eyes. "Yes, unfortunately. He did the same to my own mother. He tricked me and my brother into working for him by threatening to kill her if we didn't, but he decided to do it anyway. He really is a sick evil bastard."

"Then why the hell would you continue to work for him after he did that?" Mirai Trunks questioned.

"He would've killed me too if I quit, and it's not like I would've been able to put up a fight. He's much too strong. . .I don't know how anyone can beat him."

"We can. . .and we will," Trunks answered, standing up straighter. His fellow Saiyans all nodded in agreement.

Rika snorted, rolling her eyes at the determination all the Saiyans exhibited on their faces. "You're all so fucking stupid. . ."

Vegeta then paused as he sensed a familiar ki, one that made him feel a dozen different sensations all at once. It was  _her_ ki. She was alive. He didn't even say a word to the others as he darted out of the room, blocking out the world around him as he concentrated on where her ki was coming from. As he reached the end of a dark hallway, he ran into something so hard that it nearly knocked him backwards. He rubbed the back of his head as the hallway became filled with light and he was standing face to face with a smirking Izo.

"I just knew you would coming running like the fucking sap you really are, though you try to conceal it from others."

Vegeta gritted his teeth so hard he nearly cracked a tooth. "Where. The. Fuck. Is. She?" he spat out each individual word with so much malice than anybody else besides Izo would have been petrified. Instead, he merely laughed down at the Saiyan, his beady, cold eyes flashing with iniquity. "You can calm down, your majesty. I brought her here just for you, so that you can tell her goodbye before she joins her future counterpart in the pits of hell."

Izo didn't have time to react as his cheek came into contact with Vegeta's fist, sending him flying a good twenty feet across the room, nearly knocking all the teeth from the left side of his mouth out. He raised his head to see Vegeta blur in front of him, his wrath unmistakably revealed in his piercing dark orbs. "I'm not going to ask you again. Where the hell is my wife?"

Izo sluggishly got to his feet, a glare of his own directed at Vegeta. "I'm nice enough to bring your wife here to you alive, and this is how you repay me? My, my. I don't know how anybody could put up with that temper of yours."

"Vegeta. . ."

The uncharacteristically quiet voice struck his ears, resulting in him looking around frenziedly for Bulma. He knocked Izo out of his way before he had time to stop him, and dashed towards the room where he was picking up her ki. He was blocked by a locked door, pounding on it punitively, ignoring the throbbing sensation developing in his fists.

"Only I have the key to the room."

Vegeta whipped his head around to look at Suko approaching him, dangling a key in his face. Vegeta glowered and raised a fist threateningly. "I've already told your goddamn master that I'm seeing her no matter what, and you sure as hell won't stop me since you're so laughably weak."

Suko was about to speak when he felt a cold hand land on his shoulder. He jerked back and saw Izo smiling disconcertingly at him, his pale cheek displaying a black bruise from Vegeta's punch. "Suko, even though Vegeta has been incredibly ungrateful towards us for bringing his blue-haired goddess to him, I think you should let him see her."

"But you. . ." Suko trailed off as Izo gave him a knowing look, one that he immediately understood. Without a word, Suko unlocked the door, and moved out of the way so that Vegeta could enter.

The prince's eyes darted around the room until they caught sight of Bulma in the back corner, her sapphire eyes glowing as she spotted him. "Vegeta!" she cried exuberantly, flinging herself into his arms, her large belly crushing his muscular chest.

Vegeta tightly enfolded his arms around her, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in as he lowered his head and rested his cheek against hers. As usual, her presence instantly appeased him, and he couldn't resist pressing his lips to her temple, her content sigh like music to his ears.

They pulled apart a few moments later, though Bulma clasped their hands together, and she smiled as Vegeta allowed the gesture. Vegeta eyeballed her, his black orbs never breaking contact with hers. "Did he do anything to you?"

Bulma bit down on her bottom lip. "He hasn't physically harmed me. . .yet. He keeps saying he's going to kill me."

Vegeta saw the fear behind her eyes and lifted a hand to caress her cheek. "As long as I'm here he will not lay a goddamn hand of you. I'll make sure of it."

Bulma reached up to squeeze his hand that was resting on her cheek and smiled, loving how unambiguously protective Vegeta was of her. "I know you will," she whispered. She saw his eyes dip down to her stomach, and she knew what he was silently asking. "The baby is fine. And that evil creep did at least tell me one good thing."

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow. "What good could that bastard have done, Bulma?"

Bulma beamed, her hands resting on her stomach. "He told me that we're having a girl!"

His eyes grew double in size, his heart momentarily ceasing to beat. A girl? He never expected a girl, mainly because the royal lineage always produced male heirs. He didn't even know what to think. He looked at Bulma and saw how joyous she looked, and he sighed. He already had issues parenting his son in the years past, but at least he knew how to train the boy. But with a girl. . .he just wasn't sure about how to handle one. Bulma was loud, high-maintenance, vein, and demanding, and he had no doubt that their unborn daughter would be the exact same way.

As he gazed into Bulma's eyes, a smirk appeared on his face. Yes, the child would be exactly like her. She would have her faults, which he certainly wasn't short of himself, but if the child was to be anything like Bulma, she would also be incredibly loyal, brave, comforting, and, highly intelligent. There was no doubt he would learn to care for her as much as he cared for Bulma.

Maybe. . .a daughter wouldn't be so terrible. And for the time being, he would do his damnedest to protect every member of his family. They were all going home together, and he refused to let Izo stop him.


	11. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Vegeta are now reunited, but Izo is making it his mission to see that both of them suffer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...just a reminder, I stated in chapter 6 that Bulma was three months pregnant, so at this point she is now close to four months. I had someone on ff.net that forgot this fact and they were confused by some things in this chapter, so I just wanted to state this as a reminder in case anyone else forgot too.

Izo watched with disgust as Bulma and Vegeta embraced, turning his nose up. It made him sick to see how the Saiyan Prince who bragged so much about his pride could be reduced to mush at the sight of this blue-haired woman. She was indeed beautiful, which repulsed him even more. How could a woman with that kind of beauty, and such intelligence as well, fall for such a monster? The Prince's evil deeds throughout the universe were legendary; there was no way she couldn't know about all of that. He could excuse her for getting knocked up by Vegeta the first time around; everybody makes mistakes, some more grave than others. But he just couldn't believe she was having  _another_  one of that bastard's children. He just couldn't wrap his head around it!

"Remember what I told you to do," he leaned over and whispered into Suko's ear.

The younger male nodded, his eyes cold as he glanced over at the couple.

"MOM!"

A blur of purple passed by them as Trunks raced over to his parents, a wide smile on his face. Bulma looked up and smiled at her son, welcoming him into her arms. It was the first hug they had shared in quite a while, since in Trunks' mind teenagers were 'too cool' to hug their mothers. But in that moment he quickly dismissed such a shallow concept as he wrapped his arms tightly around his mother, her belly slightly suffocating him, but he didn't care. He was so worried that Izo had harmed her so he was happy to see her completely unscathed. 

"I'm glad that asshole didn't do anything to you or the baby," Trunks murmured, releasing her from his hold.

"Yeah, your  _sister_ and I are just fine," she replied with a small smile, ruffling his hair.

"Sister. . .?" he repeated, his eyes growing in size. He looked back at his father to see his reaction, but Vegeta only nodded, a hint of a smirk appearing on his face.

While he wasn't exactly thrilled in the first place about having a sibling, he had grown fond of the idea after imagining what it would be like to have someone to look up to him and teach things to. But he was hoping for a brother; he hadn't even entertained the idea of what it would be like to have a little sister. His azure eyes darted over to his mother, who looked slightly anxious as she awaited his response. He watched as she absentmindedly rubbed her belly, his mind trying to decipher on a proper response.

Finally, after letting out a breath, the teenager spoke. "Yeah. . .so, not gonna lie to ya, Mom. I  _was_ hoping for a brother. I've always somewhat envied Goten's relationship with Gohan. But I guess a sister won't be  _too_  bad," he said, tossing her a playful smile.

A sigh of relief escaped Bulma's lips, having feared she was about to experience another one of his foul attitude-ridden rants. She silently thanked every god she knew of and then glanced at her son and husband as they stood close together. She wanted nothing more than to go back home with them and leave this wretched place behind forever. But as she looked over at Izo, she knew that was not yet possible.

"Bulma!"

The family looked over and saw the rest of the Saiyans enter the room, looking visibly relieved to see Bulma out of harm's way. And while Mirai Trunks appeared to be the most relieved of the group, a sick feeling began to creep up in his stomach. He didn't like how calm Izo appeared; something wasn't right about it. A nudge in his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked beside him at Goku. 

"You have that same feeling too?" the older Saiyan asked quietly, trying to keep Izo from overhearing.

Mirai Trunks nodded, his eyes focusing back on the evil man who had caused him so much turmoil.

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him," Goku whisphered, gesturing to Gohan.

Again, he nodded. He knew he could trust Goku and Gohan; he had fought with them during the arrival of the Androids and Cell and saw with his own eyes just how powerful the two of them were, but he knew how Izo was. He was one sick bastard, who had nothing to lose, and he was capable of  _anything_. That was what truly frightened the half-Saiyan.

Trunks then raced over to his best friend, smiling ever so slightly. "Goten, guess what? I'm gonna have a little sister!"

"Wow, really! Gohan and Videl are having a girl, too!! Maybe they'll be best friends like us since they're gonna be close in age!" Goten exclaimed, smiling wide.

"Awwww, Vegeta's gonna have a little girl!!" Goku chuckled, his usual good-natured smile on his face.

Vegeta merely rolled his eyes at his fellow-full blooded Saiyan, while looking at his wife out of the corner of his eye, watching as she grinned wide at Goku's comment.

"I'm  _so_  glad that all of you are laughing and smiling, because this is such a happy circumstance you're all in," Izo snipped, a smarmy smirk on his face.

"Oh, would you shut up!" Trunks glared, crossing his arms. "I've had about enough of you. Just let us go home already!"

"Trust me when I say each and every single one of you have annoyed me more than I ever thought possible, but I'm afraid I can't let you go home. Not yet."

"At least let  _her_  go home," Mirai Trunks pleaded, pointing at Bulma.

"That would be a wise choice on your part," Vegeta threatened Izo, glaring viciously at him.

Izo watched as Bulma stepped closer to Vegeta, her hand resting on his back. To watch her gently touch him made him want to vomit. What was it that she saw in him!?

"I brought her here for a specific purpose," Izo said darkly.

"A purpose that you will NOT fulfill," Vegeta roared, ready to turn Super Saiyan.

Mirai Trunks kept his eye on Izo the whole time, bracing himself for an attack. But Izo didn't move or speak. The room became eerily quiet, causing all of the Saiyans to exchange glances.

A cough sounded from Izo, and Suko immediately tensed up. He glanced at his master out of the corner of his eye and saw him nod slightly.

"Now?" he mouthed to Izo.

Izo nodded again.

Suko bit down on his lip, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of his face. He could feel Izo's eyes burning a hole into him, letting him know he was tired of his stalling. Suko's eyes then met with Vegeta's, who looked puzzled.

_Why am I the one that has to do this?_

With a lift of his hand, he fired a ki blast and directed it at Bulma. But Vegeta quickly stepped in front of her and deflected the energy blast with ease, his nostils flaring. "If try to do anything like that again I will not hesitate to fucking kill you!" Vegeta screamed at the top of his lungs.

Mirai Trunks then attempted to tackle Suko to the ground, but Izo immediately stepped in and punched him in the gut, sending him flying back a few feet, though Gohan reacted swiftly and grabbed him to keep him from hitting the wall.

"None of you are going to interfere with this!!!" Izo screeched. He then lunged at Vegeta and punched him just as hard as had Mirai Trunks. Vegeta was in a gruesome amount of pain, but he did his best to remain on his feet, refusing to leave Bulma unattended.

"I must say, your resilience is truly commendable," Izo noted, an evil smirk on his face as Vegeta coughed up some blood, his knees bending slightly. "But eventually your strength is gonna fail you, and no one will be here to protect her."

Goten and Trunks flew towards Izo, but an energy blast from the bastard stopped them, knocking them into Goku as they landed backwards. Without warning, Izo then kicked Vegeta in the back with all his might, watching in satisfaction as the Saiyan Prince landed to the ground, gasping for air before losing consciousness.

"Vegeta!!" Bulma cried, attempting to reach out for her husband, but before she could get ahold of him, an intense pain flowed throughout her leg as Suko shot her with a ki blast, and she looked down to see a good amount of blood running down her leg. She hunched over, clutching her leg, her eye sight going blurry as tears of pain she couldn't suppress began to fall down her cheeks.

"You fucking idiot!" Izo barked at Suko. "I told you to aim for her stomach!"

Suko shook his head. "I couldn't do it. . .you've taken this too far. You've already killed her future counterpart, and now you want to take her own life and her innocent unborn child's too? I couldn't live with myself if I did anything like that. . .that's why I aimed at her leg. I still inflicted pain on her like you wanted, that should be enough for you."

"Well," Izo began in a low voice, "because of your goddamn sympathetic decision, you won't be living much longer!"

Before Suko could react, Izo sped forward and took ahold of both of his arms, twisting them behind his back until the disturbing sound of his bones breaking sounded throughout the room. Suko's cry of pain was ear-piercing as he fell to the cold tile floor, nearly breaking his neck as well from the awkward angle he landed at.

"If you won't kill her and that disgusting unborn brat then I will!"

Goku then fired a Kamehameha into Izo's back before he could get to Bulma, catching him off guard. Izo released a gasp of pain as the searing energy wave struck his skin, falling with his arms out in front of him.

"Gohan! Help me fend him off! Goten, Trunks, go help Bulma and Vegeta!" Goku ordered to the three half-Saiyans, taking on his Super Saiyan 3 form.

Gohan nodded and raced over to his father, lurking over Izo as he began to sit up. Goten and Trunks slowly recovered from the blast Izo had shot at them earlier and made their way over to Bulma and Vegeta. Trunks looked especially frantic as he stared at his parents. Vegeta was on the floor, completely unconscious, while blood continued to spill from Bulma's leg, her eyes hollow as she stared down at her injury.

"Mom! We've got to get you to a hospital!" Trunks cried, feeling nauseous from the pool of blood that was forming on the floor.

The pain she felt was unbearable, so bad that she could barely speak. "Vegeta. . ." was all that she could manage to get out, placing a shaky hand on her husband's cold cheek. 

"Trunks, we got to wake your dad up!" Goten said to his best friend, glancing over at his own father who was beside Gohan as they were locked in a heated battle with Izo. They were able to hold their own against him for the time being, but Goten knew they were going to eventually need more help.

"Dad, please wake up, we need you!!" Trunks begged, shaking his father, feeling an eerie since of deja vu; it reminded him too much of trying to bring his father back to consciousness during his fight with Majin Buu, right before he sacrificed himself. 

"Vegeta," Bulma kept repeating like a mantra, feeling her strength draining with every breath she took.

The distinct desperation and fear in Bulma's usually peppy voice sounded in Vegeta's ears and slowly brought him back into consciousness, his black eyes opening gradually. When he became aware of what was going on around him, his stomach churned at the smell of blood.

_No. . .no, it can't be. . ._

A rage he hadn't felt in some time built up inside of him as he saw his wife's leg covered in blood, her face nearly drained of any color. It made him feel unbelievably ill to see her in such a fragile state. It made him feel even worse that he didn't protect her; he did everything in his power to ignore the pain of Izo's attacks, but his body had failed him. And in turn, he had failed her. "Bulma. . ."

"Dad, we have to get her treatment!" Trunks cried, watching as Bulma leaned against Vegeta's chest for support.

Vegeta stared down at his wife, unable to even speak, his arms wrapping around her, his eyes glued on her leg dripping with blood.  _That bastard, that fucking bastard_!

Across the room, Mirai Trunks slowly got to his feet, after finally recovering from Izo's cheap shot. He was running towards the past counterparts of his parents when a voice stopped him. He looked down at Suko on the floor, who barely able to stay conscious.

"What do you want?" Mirai Trunks sneered.

"I know I hurt her, but he wanted me to kill her and the baby. I did the best I could to inflict the least amount of damage."

Mirai Trunks' eyes softened slightly.

"In my pocket is your time machine," Suko continued. "I'd get it for you, but I'm unable to with these damn broke arms of mine. Someone needs to take her back to her timeline and get her medical attention, quick."

"You're being awfully generous," Mirai Trunks said cautiously, unsure if he could trust him.

"And you're wasting time," Suko snapped, feeling his energy leaving his body with every word he spoke. "I don't care for Vegeta. . .he is a brute. But his wife didn't deserve to get dragged into this. So that's why I'm asking you to retrieve your time machine. Now, take the fucking thing and get her help!"

As quickly as he could, Mirai Trunks reached in to Suko's pocket and seized the time machine capsule. He sprinted over to Bulma and Vegeta, his eyes wide as he saw how up close how her injury was even more grave than it originally appeared. Vegeta's eyes never left Bulma as she rested in his arms, biting down on her lip as the pain continued.

"Here is the time machine. . .someone take her back," Mirai Trunks spoke softly, displaying the capsule to the others.

"I will," Trunks answered without hesitation, taking possession of the capsule from his future self.

Bulma let out a cry as Vegeta shifted her in his arms. "Woman. . .Bulma, I won't let him get away with this. You have my word," Vegeta whispered into her ear as Trunks opened up the capsule. Bulma didn't have it in her to speak, but she brushed her fingertips over Vegeta's, squeezing his hand tightly. 

Trunks hopped into the time capsule, telling Goten to kick as much ass as he could for him, to which the younger half-Saiyan replied to with a wide grin, powering up to Super Saiyan before joining his father and brother in the fight with Izo. Mirai Trunks wished his younger counterpart well before he too powered up and took off to engage in the fight. Vegeta then slowly lifted Bulma into the time machine, sitting her down delicately in the seat next to Trunks.

"Son. . .please, take care of your mother," Vegeta said hoarsely, unable to take his eyes off his wife.

"I will, I promise," Trunks responded in his most serious voice, barely catching a glimpse of Vegeta running a hand across Bulma's cheek.

The Saiyan Prince nodded and then moved back, though it pained him to do so as he watched Bulma's eyes close. In a flash, the time machine disappeared, leaving Vegeta levitating in the air as he caught a glimpse of the fight going on beneath him. Izo easily had the upper hand, even though all the Saiyans were in their ascended forms. They should have the advantage; Izo was just one man, but he was just so unbelievably strong. It looked impossible to beat him; he had so much strength, more than any of them ever deemed possible.

But Vegeta refused to give up. This bastard had inflicted too much pain on the people he cared about, especially his wife, endangering both her and their unborn daughter. He made a silent vow to Bulma in that moment that he would be the one to end Izo's life.

He would make damn sure of it.

* * *

 

A bright fluorescent light from overhead was the first thing that Bulma's eyes came into contact with as she woke up two hours later. She took in her surroundings, realizing she was in the hospital wing of Capsule Corp. A wince of pain escaped her lips as she barely shifted her leg, feeling bandages wrapped around it.

"Mom, you're awake!" 

She looked beside her and saw Trunks, who was sitting in a chair that he had pushed all the way up against the side of the bed. He had brought her to the medical wing of Capsule Corp. as fast as he could when he arrived in his timeline, and his grandparents soon came as well after he called them to let them know what had happened. They were out in the waiting room, and had told Trunks to sit with them while they all waited for Bulma to wake up, but Trunks refused. He just couldn't leave her. He had treated her so poorly over the last few months, and seeing her in pain had really made him regret him actions. The thought of something happening to her or his little sister made him sick, and he just couldn't bring himself to leave her side.

"Is the baby okay?" Bulma asked, her voice slightly on edge as she looked down at her stomach.

Trunks nodded. "Yeah, the doctor said you and the baby will be just fine. You did lose some blood obviously, but the doctor said your wound is not going to be life-threatening."

"It still hurts like a motherfuc-" Bulma cut herself off before realizing she was about to say that in front of her son. But Trunks just laughed, the sweet sound making her smile. She hadn't heard him laugh in so long.

"I'm just glad you're gonna be alright. We were all so worried. . ."

Taking ahold of her son's hand, Bulma sat up slightly and blue met with blue as she looked at him. "Trunks, go back and help the others now."

"Mom. . .I don't want to leave you. Even though you're gonna be okay you're still in pain, you said so yourself."

"Yes, but I have your grandparents to take care of me. And Chi-Chi too. I'll be fine. But. . .your father needs you. I want you and him to come back home safe and sound after defeating that psycho. Please. . .go back, we'll be here when you get back," she said, gesturing to her stomach.

The sound of Trunks exhaling deeply echoed throughout the room as he nodded, feeling around inside his pocket for the capsule. As he opened it up, he looked back at his mother.

"I love you, Mom."

Bulma beamed. "I love you too, baby, so much."

After giving her one last grin, Trunks stepped into the time machine and then disappeared in a flash. Bulma let out a sigh as she watched him go. She had to believe that her husband and son would both come back to her soon, safe and sound. She couldn't give up hope, not now. She felt a kick in her stomach, surprising her. Looking down at her large belly, she couldn't help but smile. Her baby girl was letting her know everything would be alright in the end. She then leaned back against her pillow and closed her eyes, deciding to get some sleep. 

_Everything will be okay. . .I just know it._


End file.
